


The Spectacular Veronica Sawyer

by AssassinOrTemplar, Deadlydeerman



Category: Daredevil (TV), Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Body Horror, Crossover, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Horror, LGBTQ Themes, Marvel Universe, Romance, Superheroes, The Spectacular Veronica Sawyer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 06:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18750664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssassinOrTemplar/pseuds/AssassinOrTemplar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlydeerman/pseuds/Deadlydeerman
Summary: My name is Veronica Sawyer.And I have a secret.I'm actually The Spectacular Spider-Man.It's pretty cool being a superhero and getting up and saving the day...now I just wish I could save myself from my greatest villian: Heather Chandler.





	1. The Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Veronica Sawyer. 
> 
> And I have a secret.
> 
> I'm actually The Spectacular Spider-Man.
> 
> It's pretty cool being a superhero and getting up and saving the day...now I just wish I could save myself from my greatest villian: Heather Chandler.

A deep sigh escaped Veronica's lips as she sat, watching the stars next to her favourite gargoyle.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back Bruce; give me a psycho with electric powers or some freak with more tentacles than a Japanese cartoon, and no problem! I can kick ass, dodge bullets and do my stand-up routine all at once, but high school..." Veronica trailed off.

School had always been a nightmare for Veronica and every year it seemed to get worse, the kids always found ways of being new kinds of cruel and then when she entered the fresh hell of high school, things just got worse. From the beginning she had truly cemented her role at the bottom of the food chain at Westerberg High, just below that girl who bites people.

It seemed like from day one, people were calling her every name in the book, Kurt and Ram were smacking her lunch trays, and then there were ‘The Heathers’ – three girls who had reduced Veronica to tears on more than one occasion. Out of all the villains that Veronica had ever faced, none were as fearsome and terrifying as Heather Chandler.

A deep pit of trepidation filled her stomach at the thought of once again being in the crosshairs of her worst nightmare.

Her rivalry with Heather Chandler had all started in middle school, when the bitch tripped Veronica and broke her glasses for the first time and ever since then, Veronica was Heather Chandlers favourite victim.

Veronica felt like she was on the edge of a panic attack, she was going to be forced back into that pit, humiliated and degraded. She felt trapped, she felt angry, she felt like she wanted to scream.

“Enough of this teen-angst bullshit!” Veronica shouted as she sprang to her feet.

“I’m the spectacular Spider-Man for god’s sake, so what if they make fun of me, at the end of day I’m the one who can bench press a car without breaking a sweat, I’m the one who can jump ninety feet into the air, hell, I’m the one who got to team up with Captain America last week to fight evil shape-shifting aliens. I’m living the dream of just about every kid in school, and when I think about that, well I guess I’m pretty damn lucky.”

Veronica smiled brightly as she gazed across the city that never sleeps, her city, and right now she never felt better.

Right on cue, a clap of thunder rang out from the sky and rain poured.

Veronica couldn’t help but laugh. “Typical Sawyer Luck.” She said through a bitter smile.

“Well, I’ve got time for one more hero job, lets see what I can find.”.

Veronica knelt down and closed her eyes, she shut out her thoughts and tried to focus on just one thing: where was she needed?

Suddenly Veronica felt a terrible cold run through her body like the blood in her veins had just frozen over, a sharp pain ran through her skull like a brain freeze and at the edge of her hearing she could hear a sound which could only be described as a screaming whisper. It was her Spider-Sense, she had been looking for trouble, now it was pointing her to where she would find it.

With a great leap, Veronica flew through the air for several moments before gravity kicked in and she began to fall, like a great wall of death the ground came rushing towards her, ready to crush every bone in her body and leave just a red stain on the concrete. For most people this image would be one straight out of a nightmare, but Veronica wasn’t like most people, not anymore.

“I love this part.” Veronica whispered to herself with a grin.

At the last second a web came flying out of the superheroes wrist that turned her fall into a swing, Veronica held out a hand below her and felt the rush of concrete beneath her gloved fingertips before her web swing unturned and launched her back into the air.

Veronica cheered in ecstasy as she felt the rush of adrenaline. 

SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK.

As Veronica neared the location her Spider-Sense had pointed her towards, right on cue she heard a cry for help from a nearby alleyway.

Veronica silently snuck into a vantage point above, early on in her superhero career she learned that rushing into a fight usually did more harm than good, not only did it put herself in unnecessary danger but it also put civilians in the line of fire as well. 

Below her, Veronica could see a young woman struggling against two thugs who each held one of her arms while a third taunted her with a bowie knife.

“Let me go you cocksucking little shit, do you know who I am!” The woman shouted with false confidence, it was almost convincing, but the tears in her eyes and the slight tremor in her voice gave away how terrified she was. 

“What a mouth you have little bird, and we were right proper gents weren’t we boys, all we wanted was a bit of dosh, but you had to go and kick up a big fuss. Now we’re going to have to teach you a lesson, its only right, what kind of gentlemen would we be if we didn’t extended this kindness.” The thug spoke in a rough cockney accent, the scars and tattoos across his face told the story of man who had lived through a thousand barfights and a lifetime of gang service. 

Without warning, a web attached itself to the back of the knife wielding thug and in a flash he was pulled into the dark abyss above him.

The two thugs and the woman stared in shock as they heard the screams of a man consumed by both fear and agony.

“What the fuck was that!” One of the thugs shouted.

“Well, between the dark and stormy night, the screams of terror and the crime fighting, if I were you I’d guess Daredevil.” A deep robotic voice announced from the abyss.

In a flash of lighting, Spiderman was illuminated above them along with the knife wielder who was currently wrapped head to toe in webs and bent in ways no man should be bent.

“Its Spider-Man!” One of the thugs shouted.

“Hey, you guessed right!” Spider-Man quipped as she dropped to the floor.

“I guess you’re the criminal mastermind of this operation, I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.” Spider-Man mocked.

In a mad rush, the criminal mastermind charged at the wallcrawler. With a simple sidestep and an extended foot, the criminal tripped, slid through the rain and crashed his head into a brick wall with a painful “crack”. He was knocked out cold.

Spider-Man turned to the last thug, even with the mask, the shit-eating grin on her face was obvious.

“So...are you going to be the smart kind of thug and run like hell, or are you going to be like your friends.” Spider-Man dared, her robotic voice deepening to make it clear how painful the latter would be.

The thug ran like hell, screaming as he ran out of the alley, into the street. The speeding bus didn’t have time to slow down before he was crushed beneath the heavy wheels.

“Jesus Christ!” Spider-Man exclaimed in shock. “Okay...didn’t see that coming.”

The whole time this fight was happening, the woman had been watching from the background and she was currently terrified, her step-father was constantly ranting about how villainous the vigilante was, usually she wouldn’t believe those stories but right now she was drunk, high on adrenaline and the vigilante was standing about 10 feet away.

The woman bolted down the opposite end of the alley, desperate to get as far away as possible. She didn’t get far.

She skidded to a stop as the vigilante came down in front of her, hanging upside down on a line of web.

“Please don’t eat me!” The woman shouted in panic. “I’m just fifteen, please just let-.”

“You dropped your purse.” Spider-Man interrupted in as friendly a tone as she could manage. Veronica hated when she scared the people she was trying to help, all she wanted was to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but the Daily Bugle had more-or-less ruined that, now people thought she was a menace at best and a cannibal at worst. 

The woman slowly looked up and saw the web-head holding out her red purse for her, she reached out a trembling hand and took it, she had finally snapped out of her panic.

“T-thank you.” The woman said quietly.

Up until this point, Veronica hadn’t gotten a clear look at the woman, but now she had, and she knew her. It was Heather fucking Chandler.

“Its uh, its, its you know, no, no problem.” Spider-Man stuttered. Fear and shock filled her insides, her mind was running through a thousand thoughts per second.

“Why did it have to be her?! It could’ve been some little old lady or a nice hooker, but no, I had to save the living embodiment of all that I hate and fear in this world!” Spider-Man thought.

“So uh, are you, are you uh, going to be okay, from here?” Veronica stuttered, right now she wanted to be anywhere but here.

For several seconds Heather seemed to be contemplating something, then a mischievous smirk grew across her face, the same kind that made Veronica freeze like a deer in the headlights.

Heather started walking towards Veronica with a newfound confidence and a look in her eyes that the wallcrawler couldn’t quite place.

“You know...now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I am, I might need some...comfort.” Heather said with a predatory grin, in a tone that could only be described as hunger.

“What is she doing? Why is she talking like that? What is happening?” Veronica was panicking in her head, which left her distracted, which left her defenceless...helpless against Heathers desire.

In one swift movement, Heather pulled the bottom of Veronica’s mask down and slammed their lips together. For a moment Veronicas eyes widened, her body stiffened, she was going to push her away and swing back home as fast as she could. Then she felt how right it felt, how intoxicating it was, it was at this point that Veronica realised she couldn’t pull away if she wanted to, and she really didn’t want to.

Heather held a hand to each side of Spider-Mans face as she kissed her saviour, deeper, rougher, faster. Heather had kissed dozens of guys before but something about this kiss felt different, not in a bad way though, she put it down to the guy being upside-down.

Veronica felt Heathers tongue slip inside her mouth and quickly assert dominance, she could taste alcohol on Heathers breath, she could smell Heathers perfume which was like fire, she felt the rain lash down her body and trail down like fingers. 

And just like that, it was over.

Heather pulled away from Veronica with a smirk of accomplishment, the kind of smirk a hunter might give after skinning their prey.

“Thanks for the save Spider-Man, don’t worry, I’ll be telling everybody about this.” Heather said, dripping with innuendo.

With a wink, Heather turned and started walking the other way.

“Make sure to swing my way again sometime Spidey, you never know when I’ll need more comfort.”. Heather said, still dripping with innuendo.

“...what the fuck just happened?” Veronica questioned in her mind. “Well let me summarize, you were bitten by a radioactive spider, became a superhero, saved the city from total destruction, saved your archenemy, made-out with your archenemy, now you’re cold, wet and horny. Good job V.” Veronica thought.

With a sigh, there was only one thing left to say.

“Typical Sawyer Luck.”

AT THE SAWYER HOUSE

After a long night, Veronica was finally home, she was having a cup-a-noodles for dinner which was usually a favourite of hers, but the butterflies in her stomach were making it far too difficult to enjoy, she just couldn’t forget that kiss.

“Look Veronica, you just need a cold shower, a good night’s sleep and to definitely not think about how soft Heathers lips felt...or how hot they were...or how good they tasted...or how much you want to try that again.” Veronica thought as she stirred her now cold noodles.

“Damn teenage hormones.” She whispered to herself.


	2. Bad Moon Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Veronica Sawyer. 
> 
> And I have a secret.
> 
> I'm actually The Spectacular Spider-Man.
> 
> It's pretty cool being a superhero and getting up and saving the day...now I just wish I could save myself from my greatest villian: Heather Chandler.

Veronica had never been so afraid, so terrified as she was in this moment, struggling, trapped in a pitch black web that wrapped around her body, restricting her limbs, tightening around her throat.

Above her, Veronica could see a horrible shadow descending upon her ensnared body. As the eldritch horror came into view, Veronica felt her sanity drain away and her mind slip into rabid, screaming, madness.

The creature was like a gigantic, thousand-legged spider made of scarred human flesh. Its many legs were wet and red, covered with countless screaming mouths dripping with pus and blood, full of jagged teeth and infected lesions, its bulbous body was scabbed and swollen with a hideous, bloody vagina running the length of its underside and from its womb spilled spiders, snakes, scorpions, frogs, snails, octopi, bees, wasps, and a thousand different species of fish, all things venomous, all covered in a thick, black ooze.

The monster smelled of death and decay, of disease, of human waste and all things vile.

Despite all that she saw and heard and smelled, the worst that Veronica could behold was its face – it was her face. A mirror image of herself screaming in pain with thick blood pouring out of its eyes.

As the creature came face-to-face with Veronica, its blood spilling onto Veronicas cheek, its jaw unhinged and an enormous, squirming, black centipede came crawling out of its maw.

As the throat-centipede neared Veronica’s face, she struggled and turned and did all she could to move her face away from the abomination but the webs were wrapped far too tightly around her head to move.

The throat-centipede latched its forcipules into Veronicas cheeks and bit in, ripping through flesh in a kiss of blood and venom. The throat-centipedes tongue was long, slimy and lumpy, it swirled around Veronicas mouth, tasting every inch of the orifice. 

The creatures venom was thick and black, it poured like a sewage pipe down her airway, filling her lungs with burning, black tar.

She was drowning, drowning in its venom, drowning in thick, black ooze.

THE SAWYER HOUSE

Veronica woke up screaming, her sheets and PJs soaked in sweat, for several moments she could do nothing but tremble and cry in shock as she sat hugging her knees. Her head was screaming in pain, just like when her Spider-Sense went off in moments of near-death, when danger was at its absolute peak.

Veronica could still feel the tightness of the webs, hear the deafening screams, taste the foul venom burning her tongue and throat. This wasn’t a normal dream, it was more like a mix between Spider-Sense and a hallucination.

“I need to talk to Matt as soon as possible, he’s the only person I know who could possibly understand what just happened.”

Veronica was just about to lay back down when her door came crashing open and a bright light blinded her.

“Police! Hands in the air! Don’t you move Motherfucker!”.

Veronica fell back into her mattress in fear and one of her arms instinctively covered her eyes from the sudden burst of light.

“Police!? Fuck! How did they find me! How did they figure out I’m Spider-Man! Oh god, what’s Aunt May going to think!? I hope Matt is as good a lawyer as he says he is!”.

The light lowered after quickly scanning the room to reveal not the heavily armoured SWAT Commando that Veronica had expected but her middle-aged aunt in a nightgown. Her middle-aged aunt in a nightgown and holding a combat-shotgun with a flashlight attachment.

“Veronica! Where did they go!? How many were there!? Did they touch you in your special places!?” Aunt May shouted.

“Wha-, Aunt May what are you talking about!? Why have you got a shotgun!? Where did you even get that!?”

Aunt May was breathing heavily and her eyes continued to search around the room for imaginary threats.

Veronica carefully stood up and placed a comforting hand on her aunts shoulder, Veronica was never very good at comforting others, she was just way too awkward, not like Aunt May. Many times throughout her childhood, her aunt had held her and comforted her while Veronica wailed unanswerable questions, ‘Why do people make fun of me?’, ‘Why don’t I have a dad?’, ‘Why didn’t my mum want me?’. 

Veronica knew now that she didn’t need a mum or dad, her Aunt May and Uncle Ben better parents than she could ever have hoped for.

Then she got Ben killed.

It was the biggest mistake of her life, her deepest and darkest secret, the thing that ate at her when things got too quiet. Every time she heard Bens name she remembered it all, letting the thief go, Uncle Ben bleeding to death in her arms outside the library, hunting the thief down and realizing that she may as well of pulled the trigger herself.

“Its okay Aunt May, I’m fine, it’s okay, it was just a nightmare, calm down we’re fine.” Veronica whispered to her kindly, trying to shove her guilt about Ben into the back of her mind.

“Just don’t think about it, just don’t think about it, just don’t think about it.”

Aunt May cried, she was shaking and barely had the strength to keep standing but she wouldn’t let go of the firearm, she held onto the gun like a lifeline.

“Why are you carrying a shotgun Aunt May?” Veronica asked, trying to keep her voice kind, calm and comforting. 

“...After last year....with what happened to Ben. Then I heard you screaming and I just...I thought you were...” May dropped the gun and threw her arms around Veronica. May held on as tight as she could, like this was the last night they would ever see each other.

Instead of wrenching herself free from the suffocating grasp like she normally would, Veronica allowed herself to be squeezed and coddled; after all, her Aunt rarely expressed anything but humour and optimism, and Veronica knew, better than anyone, how difficult it was to maintain the strength so many people relied upon – even heroes need someone to lean on.

Rolling her eyes upwards, a soft smile played on her lips. “Thanks, Aunt May. You know...for always being there? I don’t say it much but I appreciate it.” Now to throw in some sort of joke so this didn’t turn into some horrible chick flick. “But don’t use ‘Motherfucker’ ever again; I don’t want the next gangsta Spider-Man takes down to be you.”

Aunt Mays crying broke into laughing and Veronica felt the tension fall from her body, finally she had calmed down.

“I promise, as long as you never use the word ‘gangsta’ again.”

“Agreed!” Veronica said as she laughed along with May.

After a few moments of comfortable silence the two separated.

“You should try get some sleep, first day of the new school year tomorrow, very exciting.”.

“Yeah...exciting.” Veronica said as Aunt May left, with all the enthusiasm of a rotting corpse.

Veronica laid back down and stared at the ceiling with her hands cradling the back of her head. While the talk with Aunt May had calmed her, she still couldn’t get over that nightmare, something about it felt so ominous, like a warning, like some desperate plea for her to start running and never look back.

“I see a bad moon a-rising, I see trouble on the way, I see earthquakes and lightning, I see bad times today. Don't go 'round tonight, or it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise.” Veronica whispered to herself.

It was true there was a bad moon rising, worse than anyone could of imagined.


	3. Attack on Hells Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Veronica Sawyer. 
> 
> And I have a secret.
> 
> I'm actually The Spectacular Spider-Man.
> 
> It's pretty cool being a superhero and getting up and saving the day...now I just wish I could save myself from my greatest villian: Heather Chandler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for future reference, Veronicas webs are organic, they shoot from spinnerets on her wrists, no web-shooters required. Also most people in this universe think Spider-Man is a guy in his late twenties, Veronica encourages this myth because it makes her a less likely suspect.  
> 

“Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games! We got everything you want, honey, we know the names!” Sung the alarm on Veronicas phone.

“Nooooooooo, why? I just want to stay here and sleep until I die, is that too much to ask?.” Veronica thought.

As usual, Veronica woke up wrapped in a blanket burrito, ever since she was a kid she would wrap herself into a burrito while she slept and today was no different.

“Come on Veronica! Get up and grab some breakfast! I know you’re awake!” Aunt May shouted from behind Veronica’s bedroom door.

“Alright, I’m coming!” Veronica shouted back, a little grumpier than was usual for her.

Veronica lazily rolled herself out of bed and onto the floor while remaining in her burrito form, then began to wriggle across the floor to her desk where her phone was left. When she reached the desk and wriggled her way into the accompanying chair she reached a dilemma. To turn off the alarm she would have to take her arms out of her delicious blanket burrito full of toasty goodness.

“Well, I guess I just have to grow-up and solve this problem like an adult.” Veronica thought, deciding to take the responsible and mature path.

Veronica slammed her face into her phone and mushed her face around until the alarm turned off.

“Success!”

Sure she opened about a dozen apps and may have sent a text full of ineligible garbage to Martha, but she accomplished what she set out to do and that’s what matters.

“Veronica!” Aunt May shouted.

“I’m coming!”

“Ha! That’s what I was saying when I was your age!” Aunt May shouted, the innuendo clear as day.

“Eeeeewwww!” The last thing Veronica wanted to think about was her sweet old Aunt May as a teenager on her knees.

Veronica took a deep breath as she prepared to endure the daily torture all teenage girls must go through.

Veronica stood and threw off the blankets covering her, squealing as she felt the icy air wash over her body.

“Cold! Cold! Cold! Stupid climate change, I wouldn’t be surprised if it started snowing today.” 

Now that the daily drama over the cold weather was finished, she could begin her daily routine, starting with feeding her favourite furry friend, Peter The Tarantula. 

After gaining her powers, she found a special bond with all eight-legged freaks, so when she saw the little guy in the pet store, tiny, fluffy and unloved with his big brown eyes looking up at her, how could she say no?

Veronica feed Peter a nice, juicy cricket and topped off his water dish then began getting dressed.

White button-up shirt, blue tie, blue sweater, black trousers, red sneakers, grey fingerless gloves, grey overcoat and a ratty old brown scarf, all bought second-hand. It wasn’t the anything fancy but it would keep her warm, besides, trying to put effort into her appearance would only invite bullies to ruin that effort.

Veronica ran down the stairs to the kitchen where Aunt May sat, drinking tea in front of an empty plate. A plate of buttered toast with fried eggs, pork sausage and crispy bacon was placed adjacent, ready for Veronica to gulp down like she always did.

“Morning Pumpkin.”

“Mormn B’ant Bay!” Veronica said as she stuffed her mouth full of food.

“Don’t talk with a full mouth, dear.”

The two sat in relative silence as Veronica scoffed down her breakfast, ignorant to the conflict clear on Aunt Mays face.

“Are you going to be okay going to school today Pumpkin?”

Veronica looked up from her breakfast, confused why Aunt May would ask that.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m not an idiot Veronica, I may not be as smart as you but I know you’ve been having trouble with school.”

Veronica chose to stay silent.

“Look Veronica, I know how hard last year was on you and you’ve never had much luck with making friends, you know, sometimes kids are just cruel and then there’s your job at the newspaper and I know your boss isn’t a very nice man and it’s so stressful-“

“Whoa, whoa, Aunt May! Take a breath!” Veronica said, slightly fearful of the possibility that her aunt was going to give herself a stroke.

Aunt May took a couple deep breaths before continuing.

“Look Pumpkin, I’m just worried you’re missing out on your teenage years, most days you’re working and if not you just go straight to your room and study, not that it isn’t good to study but don’t you want have at least one friend, have some fun every once in a while?”

“I do have friends, I have fun.” Even Veronica didn’t buy that bullshit.

“Pumpkin, the only friend I’ve ever seen you hang out with is Martha and I know for a fact that you haven’t spent time with that girl since...Ben died.”

“May that isn’t-“

“Movie nights don’t count Pumpkin, especially when the last one was three months ago.”

The guilt felt like her stomach had just been cut open and her intestines were falling out, she hadn’t even thought of Martha in weeks, had she really let her only friendship taper off so easily? maybe Aunt May was right, maybe Veronica was losing herself to Spider-Man, piece-by-piece. 

“Now I’m not saying you have to go be friends with Martha in particular, but I’d like you to take a break from work, have some kind of friendship in your life, go do something-“

“You’re right.” Veronica interrupted. “I can’t just stop work, we both know we need the money, but I know you’re right. I suppose I can try cut back on my hours, see if Martha wants to go do something, maybe try make some new friends?”

“Oh, what about those pretty girls that go to your school, you know, the ones in those colourful little outfits?”

“Um...I don’t think so, their not really the friendly type. But I’ll think about it?”

“Fuck no I won’t think about it! The day I become friends with The Heathers is the day I...I don’t know, fight a rhinoceros?”

“I’m glad you’re taking my advice to heart Pumpkin, you know how much I worry about you...Oh, look at what time it is! If you want to get to school you better go now!”

Veronica looked at the time, she had to get going. Veronica jumped up, grabbed her bookbag and headed for the front door.

“Remember my what I always say Pumpkin!” Aunt May shouted just as Veronica was leaving.

“I know, I know! If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, that’s just what I plan to do!.”

“No, ladies always swallow!” Aunt May said struggling not to laugh.

“Aunt May!” Veronica shrieked, blushing scarlet, Veronica was horrified, even for her aunt that was filthy. Veronica could hear her Aunt May laughing like a mad woman.

“Okay bye!” Veronica said as she closed the front door, in a hurry to get out of there.

As Veronica walked down the street, she took out her phone, she wanted to talk to Matt about that fucking weird dream she had last night. Just as she was about to hit the call button, her phone lit up with caller I.D.

‘Not Daredevil’

“Matt? Huh, speak of the devil and he shall appear...ha! Nice one me...and I wonder why I’m not popular at school.”

“Let me guess, city in peril?” Veronica said as she answered her phone.

“When is it not!” Matt yelled, his voice was strained and furious.

“Whoa, Matt, calm down and tell me what’s happening.”

“Hells Kitchen. Have you ever heard of a guy calling himself ‘The Rhino’?”

“Rhino? Never heard of him. Look, Matt, school is just about to start, I can’t just go superheroing about whenever I want.”

“People are dying Veronica, get here now.”

The line when dead and Veronica sighed.

“Oh fuck my ass with a small dog, can the police not handle things for just one day!”

HELLS KITCHEN

Landing on the edge of a rooftop in her Spider-Suit, Veronica could never have prepared herself for the carnage she witnessed below.

“It’s like fucking Vietnam.”

Cars were overturned, storefronts were destroyed, lampposts were knocked down, entire streets had been reduced to rubble and fires burned everywhere, filling the streets with smoke so thick you could barely see down the road, it was like a warzone.

The air was hot and heavy, stained with the acrid smell of smoke from destroyed cars and burning buildings.

Veronica could see emergency services just arriving but it wouldn’t be enough, not yet. Too many injured and not enough ambulances, so much fire and so few firefighters. 

People were everywhere, screaming, fighting, crying.

A construction workers legs were trapped under rubble, electrical wires from a telephone pole nearby sparked and twisted around him violently, like a pit of vipers, threatening to end his life at any moment.

Looters were robbing whatever stores were still standing, one shopkeeper who tried to stand up to the looters was currently lying in a pool of his own blood on the side walk as the thieves trampled him.

During the carnage a huge pit had been formed in the road and at the bottom a woman was screaming in agony, trapped under a car and desperate for help.

So many people were in danger, so many people needed her at once and she couldn’t save everybody no matter how hard she tried, too many already lay dead in the streets and more would pile up as long as The Rhino continued his rampage.

“These people have suffered way too much already, whoever did this is going to pay in blood.” Veronica swore to herself.

HARLEM

The Rhino had caused enough damage to know that Spider-Man had to be on the way by now, he just had to wait.

He marched forward through the now evacuated streets of Harlem, just north of Hells Kitchen, every step he took shook the ground, the city was far more quiet than any city had the right to be. 

Rhino knew what was coming and he couldn’t wait for the fireworks to start, the suspense was killing him in the best way possible.

Just as Rhino stepped into a crossroad, the silence was broken by the deafening sound of four military helicopters overhead, the choppers circled him for several moments before each dropping a large military grade battle-mech. 

The mechs each landed on one of the four roads Rhino had access to, in a feeble attempt to box him in.

The mechs each stood at exactly eleven feet tall, near as tall as Rhino himself, with two mechanical arms housing twin 20mm cannons and mini-missile launchers.

“McNamara Corporation technology at its most deadly, this the good shit. Its almost flattering they rolled out the best to stop me, too bad they’re trying to fight a lion with sheep.” Rhino thought to himself.

“Please put down your weapon, you have twenty seconds to comply.” The robots demanded in a deep, threatening voice.

“Rhino not have weapon Мудак, Rhino am weapon.” Rhino stated in broken English with a thick Russian accent.

“You are in direct violation of Penal Law 205.30-Resisting Arrest, for public health and safety, you will be executed, have a pleasant day.” The robots said in their cold, synthetic voices before unleashing a barrage of machine gun fire.

The Rhino simply covered his face and allowed the bullets to bounce harmlessly of his indestructible adamantium armour, an armour that he couldn’t even remove, let alone destroy.

Minutes pasted as thousands of bullets rained down on The Rhino, vibrating his armour in a surprisingly pleasant way.

“Ha! Is like massage chair!” The Rhino shouted with glee.

The thunder of guns went silent with an audible ‘click’, they were out of ammo.

“Switching to secondary attack mode.” The robots said simultaneously.

The robots held nothing back as they unleashed the full capacity of their mini-missile launchers. Thousands of tiny missiles blasted out of the robots surrounding Rhino on all sides, the explosives flew through the air like a plague of locust blotting out the sun.

The missiles came down on The Rhino like a flood of light and fire. For a full three minutes, he was bathed in the explosions coming down like torrential rain.

When the explosions finally ceased and the smoke cleared, The Rhino stood tall in the centre of ground zero, completely unharmed.

“Bugger.” The robots said.

The Rhino let a single scoff of mocking laughter escape his throat before charging forward at unnatural speed.

Before the robot in front of him could even react, Rhino had closed the gap between them and impaled the bot on his horn.

In a flurry of destruction, Rhino rushed through the robots, destroying them and everything in his path. One-by-one the robots were torn, ripped and crushed until this street, like so many others today, was left in ruins.

Rhino looked over the damage he inflicted like a artist looking over his latest masterpiece, a great sense of pride filling his soul, until the moment was ruined by a traffic cone dropping neatly onto his horn.

“Hey! I got the thing on the thing! What do I win?” Spider-Man said, sticking to a wall behind Rhino, holding an extra traffic cone.

“You!” Rhino shouted.

“I win me? That makes no sense.” Veronica said, giggling.

The Rhino stood at his full height, towering over Spider-Man like a great colossus, eclipsing the sun from her perspective. Veronicas giggling died as she remembered how dangerous this monster was.

“Ooooohhhh, I am going to regret laughing at you aren’t I?”

Faster than Veronicas Spider-Sense could react, Rhino sent his fist brutally into Veronicas stomach, sending her flying through several walls before sticking face-first to one for a moment then she slowly peeled off and fell to the floor like a cartoon character.

Veronica pushed herself up to her feet, holding her stomach in pain.

“Don’t worry, nothing’s broken, just my spine, a few ribs, my pride.”

“Come catch me Пидорас! If got the мячи” The Rhino shouted before taking off at the speed off a freight-train.

Veronica ran after him and jumped into the air, soaring ninety feet above the streets before beginning to web-swing after the giant.

The chase was on.

The Rhino and Spider-Man raced through the city, Rhino carving straight through buildings and crushing everything in his path, Veronica swinging after him as fast as she could, desperate to end the madness. 

Five years ago, The Battle of New York had taken place, where The Avengers had fought The Army of Loki, a lot of the city had been destroyed, after that the gangs spread and thrived in the chaos like a virus, the replacement buildings were cheap and quickly became run-down, crime reached an all-time high as had homelessness, corruption was everywhere and no burrow suffered more than Hells Kitchen which more than lived up to its name.

Now the city was suffering again.

Veronica and Matt were trying to fight back against the darkness, trying to make the city a good place to live again, but it was a long, slow, and bitterly hard process, like fighting a hydra it seemed like every time she put away one gangster, ten more sprung up in his place.

It was exhausting, but she would keep fighting, she didn’t have a choice in the matter. With great power, comes great responsibility.

10 MINUTES LATER

Veronicas hunt had led her to a parking lot in front of a mall, where The Rhino stood ready for the coming battle. it had been a long day for Spider-Man and she was done chasing him, this ended now.

“So... маленький Man-Spider, ready for battle?”

For the first time in this fight, Veronica saw Rhinos face clearly, while most of it was sealed behind adamantium armour, she could still see his eyes and bottom half. To most he would’ve appeared like you would expect, a smug idiot with an over inflated ego, but Veronica could see something more, something deeper, something sad and uncomfortably familiar in his eyes.

“Why...why did do all this, so much destruction, so many dead, why did you do this! And don’t give me some fame and fortune bullshit, I want the truth!” Veronica demanded angrily.

For a moment Rhino faltered, he was completely taken aback by how Spider-Man saw right through his bravado. He was originally going to wait until the end of the fight to tell Spider-Man why he had to die, wait until the vigilante was broken and bleeding before revealing why he had to die, then Rhino would bring his boot down on the skull of the web-head, leaving only bloody sludge. But now...he had to talk about it.

“My cousin...you idiot, you just couldn’t shut up about bowling could you.” Rhino said with a sad chuckle.

Despite Spider-Man being the only other person within a five-block radius, he obviously wasn’t talking to her.

“Many months ago, my cousin, Roman Sytsevich, died because of you! He was like my brother and now he’s dead because of you!” Rhino shouted, his words were angry but the tears pouring from his eye showed how much pain he was in.

“My cousin and I were contract killers hired to murder some self-righteous district attorney who couldn’t take a bribe, we almost got him, but then you had to show up. I got away but Niko...you got him, wrapped him up like a nice little gift for the police. When our employer found out about this, he decided to make sure nothing would be tied back to him, Niko was found dead in his cell, they made it look like a suicide, fake note and all! This is why I made myself a monster, gamma rays, cybernetic enhancements adamantium armour built into my body! I can never remove this armour, it is a part of me now! That is how far I will go to kill you, that is how much I hate you!”

Rhino was breathing heavily by the end of his confession, he looked drained, exhausted, like a great weight he had been carrying for a lifetime had finally been lifted.

“I want revenge, Kingpin have contract on you, can kill two stone with one bird.” Rhino said, he sounded so broken.

“You mean you can kill two birds with one stone?” Veronica mumbled.

“Что? Oh yes, thankyou. Am only beginner at English.”

“Its okay man, learning a new language is difficult, being bilingual at all is impressive in itself so you should feel proud of yourself.”

“Thankyou, not many understand plight of immigrant."

For several moments the two stared at each other, not sure what to do, then Rhino started to laugh, then Veronica started to laugh, the two enemies couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation, going from a heartbreaking conversation about death to a polite grammar lesson was just too much! 

As the laughter wound down, an uncomfortable silence filled the space between them.

"For what its worth, I'm sorry about your cousin, I can’t take it back...but I'm sorry."

Rhino watched her, his eyes dancing with conflict until they hardened, he had made his choice. Rhino knelt down into the running position, readying himself to bolt at full speed.

“Maybe you are, but that isn’t good enough.”

“Oh come on, we had a bonding moment!” Veronica yelled.

“Was no bonding moment!”

Rhino charged at full speed, sending countless cars into the air. When he first attacked Veronica, she was too close, not enough time to react, now she had about five seconds to react, more than enough time for her.

As Rhino neared, Veronica jumped into the air with an acrobatic flourish, coming to a rest on the broad expanse of her enemies shoulders. 

It’s obvious that Rhino was momentarily confused as to what just happened if his undignified ‘huh?!’ was anything to judge by. Unfortunately for him, he was never given the opportunity to figure it out on his own; Veronica took away that privilege when webs shot from her wrists and slithered around the thickness of his neck, keeping his head firmly in place.

With all her strength, Veronica pulled back on the webs, muscles quivering with effort. Damn armour wouldn’t budge!

Rhino growled like a rabid beast. Fine. If this was how the game was to be played, then he would play. 

Though he was unable to move his head, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use this position to his advantage; digging both heels into the concrete, he braced the lower half of his body and began wildly thrashing his torso, attempting to throw Veronica from his shoulders. 

Anyone who looked over and viewed the spectacle could easily mistake it for a rodeo gone wrong.

“Yee-fucking-haw, Motherfucker.” Veronica grunted.

“I may not be able to break his armour, but I can sure as hell break him.”

Veronica pulled harder and harder, the web lasso tightening around the beasts neck. Rhino bucked and kicked as the webs started to force the armour into his neck, closing his throat, he was starting to panic, he couldn’t breath. 

Rhino had to try something to get free, so he did the thing he was best at, he charged.

Knocking into buildings and cars, Rhino threw himself into any surface he could find and shook with all his might in the hope of freeing himself, his muscle-bound arms could not reach up to grasp the masked hero, to rip his attacker from him shoulders and allow him the sweet relief of air.

Rhino had never before known the unique agony of asphyxiation, the thin line of web dug his armour so deeply into his throat he couldn’t even scream in pain. 

“Can’t breathe, can’t breathe!” Rhino wanted to scream, but the words were trapped.

Someone once told him that asphyxiation was one of the better ways to go, completely painless they said, but that was a barefaced lie, it was anything but painless, it was more like being crushed from the inside, and the worst part was that it was far from quick.

Rhino lined his back up with a wall and charged backwards, slamming Spider-Man into the bricks, the hero gave a cry of pain but didn’t loosen her grip an inch. Rhino tried again to slam her into a wall but again she held her grip tight. Rhino slammed against any wall he could find, again and again and again, each time weaker than the last.

Rhinos could hear Spider-Man squeal in pain and effort as she pushed her body to its limit. Rhino didn’t know that she was pulling so hard, her webs had cut through her gloves and into her own hands, blood was everywhere and it stung like a bitch but still she kept pulling.

Rhino felt like his head was going to pop like a water balloon full of thick tomato soup.

Rhino could feel his heart pounding painfully against his ribcage, his body was panicking as much as he was. With his strength draining by the second, Rhino fell to his knees, then to all fours. Veronica stood tall upon his armoured back, pulling her webs ever harder.

Rhinos hearing had faded into a muted ringing, his vision was tinged blood red and slowly going dark. The repulsive taste of blood engulfed his tongue and made his stomach turn, as if someone had slid their hand past his lips and down his throat, took hold of his insides and pulled them out his mouth.

In one last burst of adrenaline fuelled act of self-preservation, Rhino pushed himself roughly onto his back, hoping to crush the arachnid under the weight of his body.

For a moment it worked, Spider-Man crushed with Rhino laying prone on top of her, but just for a moment, before her legs shot out into his spine, right between his shoulders and neck. Like a cruel joke, Rhino was allowed a single, coughing breathe before his strangling resumed, the simple pleasure of oxygen left tantalisingly just out of reach. Rhinos body had lost all fight besides a couple twitches and jolts here and there, his face felt like it was being slow-cooked over a roaring fire while the rest of his body felt numb and cold, unfortunately Rhino couldn’t care about either anymore, he just felt so tired...so indescribably tired...he just needed some rest...just a moment...to rest.

Veronica felt the giants body go limp, at long last he was unconscious, she tossed Rhino to the side brusquely and unsteadily climbed to her feet. Despite the cold morning, Veronica was boiling in her now damp with sweat costume, her muscles were trembling and aching like she had the flu, her hands were slick with blood and felt burned raw like she had been holding onto hot iron, her breath was ragged and her heartbeat was racing like a hummingbird. Veronica lent over and held onto her knees as her body struggled to calm down.

Veronica could only pray that Rhino stayed unconscious for awhile because right now she barely had enough strength to stop herself from losing this mornings breakfast.

“Could you not have done that quicker!?” Shouted a voice from one of the few rooftops still standing nearby, an all-too familiar voice, it was the voice of her mentor, the voice of her friend, the voice of the pain-in-the-ass who called her out here without so such as offering to lend a hand. It was Matt Murdock, more famously known as The Devil of Hells Kitchen or simply Daredevil.

“Took you long enough! Too bad I already beat the bad guy” Veronica said more than a little bitterly.

Daredevil jumped of the building and swung from a streetlight, flying through the air with a double backflip and landing with the grace of a dancer.

“Dead?” Daredevil asked, referring to Rhino.

“No...just unconscious...” Daredevil could tell that something was bothering her.

“Something’s wrong.”

Veronica didn’t know how to explain it, she had seen people die today, she had seen people die before, most days she could accept it, but right now all she could think of was trampled corpses. She turned off her voice changer and started to cry.

“...I’m seventeen years old, I’m seventeen and I can’t count how many people I’ve watched die, I’m seventeen and I almost die every day, how fucked up is that? I’m seventeen, I should be playing video games and watching bad movies with friends, not fighting for my life...Why can’t I just be seventeen!?” 

Veronica was having a breakdown and they both knew it.

Veronica wept as Matt tried to decide what to say, on one hand, she was just a child, she wasn’t ready for the power or responsibility she was given and over the last two years Matt could see the strain taking it’s toll.

On the other hand, she saved so many people today, if she wasn’t Spider-Man then how many more would be dead? What was the sacrifice of one compared to the thousands she would save. He did care about her, but he had to be to her what Stick was to him, he wasn’t her father, he was her drill sergeant, she wasn’t his daughter, she was his soldier.

“No one ever said life was going to be fair, it’s time you grew up and accepted that.” He demanded brusquely before turning his back and walking away.

Veronica hadn’t expected such a cold and unsympathetic answer, it hit her like a slap to the face and made her feel small, pathetic, like a whining child. She wanted to stop crying but she didn’t know how, Daredevil had left her, she was alone.

Veronica fell down onto her knees and cried in the piles of rubble and destroyed cars.

Veronica realised just how true Aunt Mays words were, she didn’t have a friend in the world, she was alone, no Martha, no Ben, no Matt, her boss hated her and Aunt May would be better off without her. She was alone...all she had left were bloody hands and the spider she was cursed to wear.


	4. Teen-Angst Bull#$&%

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Veronica Sawyer. 
> 
> And I have a secret.
> 
> I'm actually The Spectacular Spider-Man.
> 
> It's pretty cool being a superhero and getting up and saving the day...now I just wish I could save myself from my greatest villian: Heather Chandler.

In the girls bathroom of Westerberg High, Veronica swore as she heard the school bell ring.

She had though about skipping the day entirely after what happened with Rhino and Daredevil, but she needed something to focus on, she just needed to not be Spider-Man right now.

It took a while before Veronica could pull herself together after her far-too eventful morning. She had to clean, stitch and bandage her hands which had been lacerated by her own webs, a difficult and painful process but she was used to it, then she had to sneak into Westerberg with out anyone seeing and change out of her Spider-Suit.

Unfortunately with the bell already rung, she would be even later than she had expected.

“Hours late on the first day of school, Aunt May is going to kill me if she finds out. Well, look on the bright side Me, at least when your day hits rock bottom, you can’t go anywhere but up...why do I feel like I just jinxed myself?

Then, as if on cue.

The bathroom doors opened with a careless bang and a chittering of laughter rang through the room, laughter that Veronica was all too familiar with – it was The Heathers.

She was trapped. 

No way out.

This stall was a locked house ready to be set ablaze – and the Heather’s were the flame. All she could do was sit and wait, ready to be burned alive.

She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breath, her heartbeat was pounding like a hammer on an anvil in her ears.

Veronica flinched as she heard the stall door next to hers open, slapping her out of her second panic attack that day, she was still shaken by the mornings events so being faced with the possibility of another humiliation - courtesy of The Heathers - was just enough to send her over the edge, yet not quite enough to keep her there.

Veronica just needed a way out, there was always a way out, she just had to find it first.

Veronica took in her surroundings and tried not to be sick; in the next stall someone could be heard aggressively puking. The floor looked like as though it had never been cleaned before, with stains of all kind littering the tiles along with a used condom here and a bloody tampon there, a roach scurried near her foot and the less said about the smell the better.

“Jesus, this school is a dump, they don’t even stock toilet paper anymore! What cheap prick decided that?” Veronica thought.

On the door of Veronicas stall was an impressively detailed graffiti of the three Heathers, each with a noose around their neck and a cheering crowd surrounding them.

“Artistic yet crude” Veronica deadpanned in her mind. “Guess I’m not the only one with a grudge against The Heathers”

“Grow up Heather, Bulimia is so last year.” Chandler said in a mocking tone practically oozing venom.

“Wow Heather, tell us what you really think, don’t be shy you little skank.” Veronica thought with sarcastic hatred.

“Maybe you should see a doctor, Heather?” McNamara said, her voice full of sadness and concern - Veronica had never heard the yellow Heather sound so...human before.

“Yeah, Heather, maybe I should.” Duke said, she sounded tired, maybe it was because she had had this conversation a thousand times before, maybe it was because she was so beaten down by Chandlers cruelty, despite the countless torments and taunts Veronica had suffered at the hand of the green Heather, she felt a pang of sympathy for the girl.

Veronica heard the door open before anyone else, and seeing as the bell had already rung, then it was either a student with a hall pass or...the opportunity she needed to escape, Veronica kept a couple forged hall passes and absence notes in case Spider-Man was needed for an emergency she just needed to add her name. 

“Ah, Heather and Heather.” Ms. Fleming said with an air of victory, like she had just won first in a dog show, fitting for the bitch that she is.

The sound of Duke’s puking echoed out of the next stall.

“...and Heather.” Ms. Fleming finished with a tinge of disgust.

As Veronica finished up her forged hall pass, she realised that The Heathers were going to be knee deep in some serious shit. 

“Why should I care, they’ve been nothing but assholes to me since puberty hit.”

The memory of McNamara’s sad little voice ran through her head, images of the girl crying and comforting her friends ran past her minds eye.

“They’re not even human! Just animals who pounce on any sign of weakness for some sick sort of satisfaction!”

Veronica tried not to think about the sounds of Duke throwing up. She tried not to think about Duke looking in the mirror and hating everything she saw. She tried not to think about Duke starving herself to death as she tried to remove imperfections that simply didn’t exist.

“Why do I care, I don’t care, give me one reason as to why I would care about a Heather!”

Memories of her kiss with Heather Chandler in the rain flashed through her mind. Just the memory of Chandlers lips sent a quiver through her body and made her tingle between the thighs. The feeling of her soft yet agonisingly hot lips was seared into her mind, the knee-trembling look of lust in her eyes, the sound of her soft moans as she sucked on Veronicas tongue.

Veronica brushed her bandaged fingers across her lips as she lost herself in the memory of kissing Heather Chandler.

Since going to bed last night, Veronica hadn’t thought about it, but now that she’d remembered, there was no going back.

Veronica had kissed girls before, there was her ex-girlfriend Black Cat but the less said about her the better, she and Martha had shared a couple friendly yet experimental kisses throughout their childhood, she even got to kiss She-Hulk once and she was one hell of a kisser, but no one compared to Heather Chandler.

“Dammit, Veronica, now you’re just thinking with your lady parts, it was one kiss and she thought you were a guy at the time! Fine, help them out, just don’t say I didn’t warn you in ten minutes time when this becomes the biggest mistake of your life.” Veronica thought to herself.

Veronica added the three Heathers names to the hall pass then opened the door of her stall and stepped out into view, the second she was in sight all eyes turned to her, no doubt because none of them had thought any one else was there.

“Um, actually Ms. Fleming, all four of us are out on a hall pass. Yearbook Committee.”

“...I see you’re all listed, hurry up and get where you’re going.”

Mrs. Fleming curtly stuffed the note back into Veronicas hand and left, Chandler then curtly snatched the note out of Veronica’s hand. Veronica turned and faced The Heathers - it had been a long time since Veronica had the guts to look them in the eye and what she saw reminded her why.

Duke looked at Veronica with unbridled rage, like Veronica had just fucked her mother and then posted the pictures online, in short it wasn’t the look of gratitude that Veronica had expected.

McNamara’s expression was significantly more in line with what Veronica had pictured when coming to the rescue of her worst enemies, her eyes held a gaze of gratitude and perhaps a touch of sadness?

“Wonder what that’s about?” Veronica thought.

Chandler scanned the note with scepticism. For several minutes she seemed to be weighting her options, then her eyes focused on Veronica like a hawk focusing on a mouse.

“This is an excellent forgery...so why’d you do it Sawyer? Why did the good little teachers pet break the rules for little old us?” Heather said, somehow sounding kind, threatening and sexy all at once.

“Wow, didn’t even make it to the ten minute mark before realising this was a stupid decision, for someone so smart you can be thick as a plank sometimes.” Veronica thought to herself.

Veronica suddenly realized how quickly Chandler had cornered her without her noticing, Veronica also noticed how close Chandler was, how tasty her soft, scarlet lips looked, like a sweet slice of cherry pie. Her long platinum blonde hair complimenting her flawless porcelain skin. Her eyes were icy blue, strong and fierce like the winds of winter, she smelled absolutely to die for, like vanilla ice cream and cherry coke, just delicious.

The sound of fingers snapping brought Veronica back to reality where she realised she had been staring at Chandler and everyone had noticed.

“Oh Jesus Christ in heaven please don’t let me be blushing!” Veronica thought.

“Hello, Earth to dyke, are you going to answer my question or are you going to keep gawking at me like a dirty old man on Viagra.” Heather asked brusquely. She was becoming impatient, which was a very bad road to travel down, Veronica had to say something fast.

“Could you uh, you see I, um, well-.” Veronica stuttered as she struggled to find something to say, anything to get her out of this mess, say the first that comes to mind!

“I crave a boon!”

“What boon?”

“Could I be with you!” Veronica shouted at Chandler.

“Not that you moron!”

“I, I mean can uh, I sit with you, all of you I mean, tomorrow, at lunch?” Veronica rambled clumsily.

“Okay, that good, roll with that!”

“Just once, no talking necessary, if people think you tolerate me than they’ll leave me alone.”

The Heathers started to laugh in their trademark mocking tone. She needed something to sweeten the pot otherwise they this situation was going to get very bad, very fast.

“Before you answer, I also do report cards, permission slips and absence notes.”

“What about prescriptions?”

“Shut up Heather!”

“Sorry Heather.” Duke said meekly Veronica could tell that Duke truly feared Chandler.

““I shouldn’t find that hot, that’s not who I am, but at the same time... daaaaaaamn!”

“You know...for a greasy little weirdo, you do have good bone structure.” Heather said in the tone of a succubus as she stepped uncomfortably close to Veronica.

“Veronica! Keep your gayness on a leash, if they seriously think you’re gay for even a second, then you’re dead!”

Out of nowhere, McNamara piped up with the energy of a toddler full of meth.

“And a symmetrical face, if I took a meat cleaver down the centre of your skull, I’d have matching halves. That’s very important.” McNamara said.

“Why does she sound so excited at the thought of me taking a meat cleaver to the skull?!”.

“Of course you could stand to loose a few pounds.” Duke said in an air of arrogance.

“You know, this could be beautiful. Mascara maybe some lip-gloss and we’re on our way.” Chandler said as she pulled off Veronicas scarf and gently brushed the hair out her face.

“Well, so much for keeping your gayness on a leash, Veronica want!”

“Heather, get this girl some blush and Heather I need your brush - let’s make her beautiful.” Heather said in a sing-song tune.

“Lets make her beautiful.” McNamara said, obviously excited for the upcoming makeover.

“Lets make her beautiful.” Duke said, sounding enthusiastic yet the undertones of spite and restrained anger were not lost on Veronica.

“Okay?” Chandler asked.

“Okay.” Veronica answered.

Veronicas nerves suddenly came back in full force as she realised what she had just done. She just made a deal with the devil, she just joined the Lip-gloss Gestapo, she just signed herself up to be a Heather.

“Holy shit, what have I gotten myself into now!?”


	5. The Demon Queen of Highschool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy! So, this story was started on Wattpad, it's my fan-fiction site of choice. If you would like to ask any questions or see a chapter or two in advance, then go visit Wattpad. Thanks for reading!

A hot shower, a cold drink and a long sleep is all Heather Chandler could think of right now as she pulled herself up the stairs to her room, she had dragged herself home straight after school for the first time since she was eight years old simply because of how much she needed a nap. 

The first couple days of school had been unexpectedly challenging when she expanded her clique to include Veronica Sawyer of all people. For almost a week, Heather had been teaching Veronica how to apply her makeup, how to dress in style, how to walk, talk and act like a Heather should. But mostly Heather had been busy keeping Veronica from accidentally committing social suicide, she was painfully awkward and had the worst luck Heather had ever seen, she was a complete and utter nerd and she couldn’t keep her mouth shut to save her life, but that was one of the things she had grown to love about Veronica, she was honest.

Heather couldn’t even explain why she let Veronica join The Heathers in the first place, she had always hated the snivelling little teachers pet who couldn’t go five minutes without trying to show of how smart she is.

But something about Veronica seemed different this year, Heather just couldn’t bring herself to hate her like she did before, as soon as she looked into Veronica’s big brown eyes she knew something had changed between them.

“I just wish I fucking knew what!”

The second Heather reached her room, she locked the door, started stripping and headed for her ensuite. During her shower, Heather’s mind couldn’t help but drift back to Veronica, the girl had changed so much in the time that Heather knew her and only now was she noticing. Gone was the girl with second-hand glasses held together with tape, gone were her braces and acne, she had matured into a gorgeous young woman with the cutest smile Heather had ever seen, something about that smile left Heather feeling light-headed and nervous much to her confusion.

After her shower had finished, Heather dressed in her overpriced short silk robe, cracked open her secret stash of vodka and curled up in bed with her new favourite book ‘The Bell Jar’, she had only read the first third of the book but already it was becoming one of her personal favourites.

For the first time in a hell of a long time, Heather felt like she had a true friend. Veronica wasn’t like Duke or McNamara, Veronica never lied to avoid Heather’s wrath, Veronica never looked at Heather with hatred or fear, Veronica never kissed her ass with false compliments or brown-nosing to climb up the social ladder, Veronica was just herself and the two of them got along incredibly well.

As for the rest of her friends, well, The Heathers weren’t actually friends, not really, truthfully they could barely stand each other, but they needed each other to stay in power, they were allies due to necessity but nothing more.

Heather Duke was a treacherous little snake waiting for her chance to strike, but she had a knack for gossip, secrets, lies and blackmail, knowledge is power and Duke supplied a substantial amount of that power.

Heather McNamara was just a sycophant but she was also a social butterfly, she knew how to keep The Heathers on top, she got them into every party and got them the answers to every test by flirting with the nerds.

Heather Chandler was the alpha of the group, she kept the group together and enforced her law on the school, everyone who ever fucked with her or her group became a pariah or was exiled from the school.

Heather shook her head in frustration and took a swig of the vodka.

“Fuck, why can’t I concentrate on my book, why can’t I just stop thinking about her!”

Despite her best efforts, Heathers mind was stuck on repeat, Veronica, Veronica, Veronica, all day long, it was annoying as all hell but at the same time, she kind of liked it in a weird masochistic sort of way. 

She just needed to get it out of her system, just a quick phone call and she could forget about her.

Heather fished out her phone from school skirt then hit Veronica’s newly saved number.

After a few seconds of ringing, gunshots and angry screams burst out of the phone’s speakers.

“Uh! Hey Heather, wha’sup!” Veronica shouted down the phone, Veronica was panting like she was running a marathon and was grunting with exertion every other second, Heather flinched at her awkward use of slang.

“Veronica, what’s that noise--are those gunshots!?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean it’s the t.v, I’m watching t.v.”

“Get that spider-freak!” Someone shouted in the background before a burst of gunfire.

“It’s, uh, a documentary...on Spider-Man! Yeah, it’s got all kinds of footage of Spidey saving the da- AAAHHH!!!” Veronica yelled.

“What was that!?”

“Dynamite! Who brings fucking dynamite to a bank robbery!? This isn’t Looney Tunes you psychopathic, dick-sniffing, cunts!”

Heather was dead silent, she had never heard Veronica so angry before, hearing Veronica swear was a huge shock in itself.

“Are...are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine, these shit-fuckers couldn’t hit the side of a barn.”

“Huh...must be one hell of a documentary.”

“Documentary? Uh, Right! Yeah it’s...it’s in 3D.”

“A 3D documentary?”

“...Yes, a 3D documentary, you’ve never heard of them? They’re all the rage in...Africa!”

Heather was blindsided by the odd turn their conversation had taken, she had called Veronica for some reason right? She couldn’t remember anymore.

“...Uh, Veronica?”

“Yeah! That’s all folks! Next time try robbing a bank in a city that isn’t famous for it’s masked vigilantes. Oh, uh, Heather, sorry, that just got very intense...so, how are you, everything okay?”

A smile spread across Heather’s face, despite how agonisingly weird Veronica could be or how unbelievably strange she could act, she could tell that Veronica truly meant it when she asked, she really cared.

“I’m fine, just kinda bored.”

Heather cleared her throat, her hands were getting sweaty.

“I’m calling because I’ve come to an important decision about our group. You will now officially be known as my best friend, should someone ask then you will answer ‘Heather Chandler’, have I made myself clear?” Heather said in her demon queen voice, the voice she used when giving a command.

“Um, yeah, sure Heather.”

A few seconds ticked by in silence before Veronica spoke again.

“Listen, Heather, I just wanted to say thanks, between teaching me about makeup and hanging out at the mall...I’ve just never had someone to do, well, girl stuff with. I know that I’m a total geek and I like that geeky stuff but...I like doing the girly stuff too. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks Heather, for everything.”

Heather felt her cheeks burn pink, her heart was racing and she felt uncharacteristically vulnerable.

“The fuck is wrong with me!? I feel so nervous, am I sick!?”

“...Well, someone had to teach you, seventeen and you couldn’t even put on lipstick, it was fucking pathetic.” Heather said defensively.

A snort of laughter shot from Veronica’s side of the phone 

“Right Heather, thanks for the charity work, you’re Mother-Fucking-Teresa.”

Heather couldn’t help but giggle, she wasn’t ready for Veronica with confidence, then Veronica started giggling, then they both started laughing.

For a good couple of minutes the two laughed themselves to tears over the stupid joke.

“Listen Heather, I’ve got to go, I need to drop off some photos for work.”

“Sure, talk to ya later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

The phone went dead and Heather was alone in her room once again, she had finished her vodka and while she wasn’t even tipsy, she was too much of a lush for to get drunk off one bottle, she was feeling drowsy enough for a nap.

Heather lay down and closed her eyes, gently falling into dreams of a beautiful brown-eyed girl dressed in blue.

She didn’t understand her feelings for Veronica yet, but she would, one day.


	6. Firing Squad Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to check the story out on Wattpad.

(TRIGGER WARNING: Swearing, Homophobic Slurs, mention of Bulimia Nervosa, and plenty of Angst.)

"You have to promise me, if I let you come with me, then you cannot tell anyone I'm Spider-Man. No one can know, understand?" 

This elevator she rode, it was smooth as can be made no noise besides gentle piano tunes, but it did nothing to calm her, she was on her way to her execution, as soon as those metal doors opened, she would be faced with a firing squad. 

"This was a bad idea, why do I ever listen to myself? This is a disaster in the making; by the end of the night I'm going to have to change my name and ride up to Seattle." 

"Of course! Does thou think that I, Thor the Avenger, Son of Odin and God of Thunder, am a dullard? I may not have the silver tongue of my brother Loki, but I, Thor the Avenger, Son of Odin and God of Thunder, am more than capable of outwitting a small gathering of foolish mortals. The mighty Thor shall prevail!" 

For nearly a week she'd been the fourth official member of the Heathers clique, but she still couldn't get over how strange it was spending almost all her time with the girls she once despised - eating lunch with them, hanging out at the mall with them, exploring the city or just playing a game of croquet at Duke's house with them. Over the course of the school week, Veronica had come to see The Heathers in an entirely different light. They weren't heartless monsters - they were people. People that she had come to care about. 

It was kind of funny, despite living in New York nearly her whole life, Veronica had started to forget how it felt to walk through the city that never sleeps, sure her life hadn't been easy here, but it was home, and she truly loved these streets, from its hundred year old buildings to the thousand kinds of street-meat it could offer. With all her web-swinging, she had forgotten to really appreciate that what she was protecting was on the ground, and it was The Heathers of all people who made her appreciate it. 

"The mighty Thor has bestowed the honour of his presence at your festivities, and it is well known throughout the realms that the fun is doubled wherever I tread - thoust should be overwhelmed with joy!" 

"Yeah, well, I'm not, so just try to keep your mouth shut and stick to the story: I am not Spider-Man, I am a freelance photographer and journalist, I interviewed Spider-Man, he got me in touch with you, I interviewed you then invited you to the sleepover, do you understand? Can you stick to the story?" 

"Fear not, to the story shall Thor stick!" 

Veronica took a deep breath. 

"...Well I'm fucked." 

It was the first weekend of the school year and Veronica was invited to her first sleepover with The Heathers which was equally exciting as it was daunting, Martha was the only girl she had ever had a sleepover with and they were all pretty tame. God only knows what would go down at a Heathers sleepover, Veronica guessed that there would be drinking, gossip, maybe a bit of 'experimentation'...the last one was probably just wishful thinking but a girl could dream. 

"And I've been looking forward to this sleepover for days! unfortunately like always, Spider-Man got in the way, I'm really starting to hate that damned costume, just when I had something good going, Spider-Man had to go and ruin it...Typical Sawyer Luck." 

Long story short, the four girls had decided to meet up at McNamara's place straight after school, unfortunately duty called, Spider-Man was needed so Veronica ditched them. Spider-Man had teamed-up with Thor to defeat his psychotic ex-girlfriend The Enchantress. Now that their adventure was complete, Veronica had invited Thor to come with her, hopefully it would distract her friends long enough for them to forget that she ran out on them without an explanation. 

"...The mighty Thor hungers! When will we rest and feast and dance and make merriment!" Thor said in his shakespearean voice. 

"I already told you soon! And you better forget about making 'merriment' with any of my friends cause that ain't gonna happen!" 

"...Thor becomes melancholic when he hungers." Thor said sadly. 

"Oh I'm regretting this already. How in a couple hours can you go from 'Oh my god, it's Thor, he's my favourite Avenger!' to 'Oh my fucking god it's Thor, someone get me a fucking noose!' If I had just left my Spider-Suit at home then none of this would have happened." 

Ding! 

The steel doors opened to the penthouse and Veronica felt her insides twist up. It was time to face the music, by the end of the night, she would either somehow convince The Heathers to forgive her or her skin would slowly be flayed off, piece-by-piece, and her head would be mounted on the wall like a deer, as a trophy. Somehow it wasn't the thought of the public humiliation or becoming a social pariah that frightened her, she was used to that, it was the thought of losing her friendship with The Heathers, losing her friendship with Chandler. That is what frightened her. 

"Okay...it's time." 

The elevator had opened up to a beautifully decorated hallway filled with paintings, sculptures and expensive looking furniture. The walls looked like they were made of the finest dark wood and the floors were made of roman white tile. Everything about this hallway alone screamed 'I'm better than you'. 

"Fuck my ovaries with a branding iron! That pot-plant probably costs more than I'll make in my whole life! Stupid rich people." Veronica said to herself in a loud whisper, trying to keep her voice down but failing.

Veronica only took a few steps before a figure appeared at the end of the hall, just one. Both Veronica and the figure froze for a moment before approaching one-another, like an old-west showdown, the two walked towards each other with tension quickly building in the air, neither side dared let any sign of weakness or hesitation show lest they be gunned down. 

As Veronica neared the figure, she realised the identity of her first opponent: Heather McNamara. It made sense that she would be the one to check who had come up the elevator, it was her home, she was the host, her father even owned the building. 

Out of The Heathers (Veronica included), McNamara was the shortest of them all, but her hair was by far the longest and it was like spun gold, it reached down to her knees and you could lose a hand in its thickness, right now it was tied back in purposefully messy ponytail with her iconic yellow scrunchie. McNamara's skin was tanned and on-display as often as possible, right now she wore a yellow tank top that seemed to hug every curve and contour of her braless chest along with a pair of boxers with cute little bunnies and happy yellow suns on them. McNamara's nails were painted yellow and she wore surprisingly little makeup for a Heather, only a bit of mascara and some pink gloss. It was subtle yet effective. 

"I may have a bit of a thing for Chandler, but McNamara, I wouldn't say no to a bit of slap & tickle with her, I love the beach babe thing she has going for her." 

McNamara's eyes were a brilliant shade of lime green, as green as green could get. While they were certainly beautiful, they were never without an undertone of fragility, a mix of sadness and fear that couldn't easily be ignored, even now as the blonde girl tried to project the appearance of a tough bitch who couldn't give a shit about anyone else. Veronica could see right through the act, Heather was afraid. 

Out of The Heathers, McNamara was the kindest, without a doubt. When Veronica joined The Heathers, McNamara welcomed her with open arms and even apologised for all the horrible things she had done. She wasn't the funniest girl in the group and she definitely wasn't the brightest, honestly she had the intelligence of a meatloaf, but she was kind-hearted, unfortunately she didn't let everyone see that. In Westerberg you were either predator or prey, and predators couldn't be nice, they had to be ruthless and cruel. McNamara hated acting the way she did, but she feared being bullied more, there wasn't a day that went by that McNamara's heart wasn't in conflict. 

"Wow Veronica, didn't expect to see you anytime soon after you ditched us! You realise what we're going to do to you right? You better hope you can get a transfer quick. Oh wait! I know why you're here! Eager to come begging Chandler for another chance? We all know how much you're dying to beg on all-fours for her, sounds like your idea of a good time Dyke!" McNamara ended her tirade of threats and insults with a forced, shrill laugh. 

She could repeat all the words Duke and Chandler would say, she could list insult after insult like Duke and Chandler, she could even copy the body language of Duke and Chandler, but at the end of the day, she wasn't either of the other Heathers. McNamara could act just as cruel and vindictive as her friends but that's all it was, 'acting'. When McNamara tried to act like her 'friends', it felt forced and camp, like she was overacting. 

In the middle of McNamara's hate speech, Veronica pushed her index finger into McNamara's mouth. For McNamara, it was like time stopped, she was so confused. 

"Listen Heather, if you want me to go then I'll go, but first, you should check out my 'peace offering'." Veronica said, motioning McNamara to look over her shoulder. Behind Veronica stood a tall blonde man in alien armour with a long scarlet cape, his arms were bare and muscled like a Spartan of ancient Greece, his face was lined by a rugged beard, his skin was bronzed by the sun and lined with the scars of battle. Thor stood with a surprising air of sophistication and poise, in contrast to his rough appearance, as he examined an ancient suit of Templar Knight armour from the 1100's, the look in Thor's eyes made it clear that he appreciated the tools of a soldier no matter where or when they came from. To McNamara, he was the perfect balance between rugged warrior and fairytale prince. 

"Is...is that-?" McNamara said, Veronica's finger still in her mouth. McNamara's half-finished sentence caught the attention of the Asgardian and he was more than happy to finish her sentence for her. 

"Yes! It is I! Thor the Avenger, Son of Odin and God of Thunder. I was invited by Veronica, daughter of Sawyer, to partake of the festivities, may our merriment shake Yggdrasil itself!" Thor said with bombastic fervour. At once, McNamara spit out Veronica's finger and ran over to Thor, her previous fury now completely forgotten. 

"OhmigodOhmigodOhmigod! You're Thor! You're like, my favourite Avenger! When you were fighting those aliens with The Hulk! Aaaaahhhh! You were like, soooooooo cool! And hot!" 

"Woah, jeez, never expected McNamara to be such a fangirl...I've never heard a Heather talk about Spider-Man that way, what does Thor have that I don't!? I get treated like a common crook while Thor gets to enjoy flocks of gorgeous women throwing themselves at him while I get garbage thrown at me!? That's not fair! I swear, if Chandler starts fawning over you Thor then I'll-... Oh great, I'm getting jealous. So what if Chandler gets hot and bothered by Thor, not like I have any chance with her..." 

McNamara led Thor and Veronica down the hallway to her Living Room. McNamara had her arms latched tightly around Thor's waist as her motor-mouth ran a thousand miles an hour. Veronica trailed a dozen steps behind, her back was hunched and her face was stretched into a grimace as her mind ran through the thousand ways this night could go wrong, she could be thrown out of The Heathers, she could be outed from the closet, Chandler could fall for Thor, she could be exposed as Spider-Man. Honestly there were countless ways this night could go wrong, and at this point she was way-past fear and anxiety, she was just pissed-off and she wanted the disaster over and done with. Veronica, Heather and Thor stepped into McNamara's living room and Veronica's jaw dropped to the ground. 

"Well smack my ass and call me Judy! This room is bigger then my whole house! Sweet creamy cunt! Is a T.V that size even legal!? Priceless paintings, ancient artefacts, is that a Stradivarius!? Damn rich people, they spend their money on the stupidest things, this stuff belongs in a museum! Jeez, I bet her parents have enough jewellery in their room alone to pay off ten years worth of Aunt May's bills...Hmmm...that...actually...well it's not like they would miss it right? ...I mean...I could come back in a couple days and they'd be insured right? And it's not like I'd be caught...And Aunt May deserves it! Why should they get everything on a silver platter while May and I have to work our hands to the bone just to keep a roof over our heads!...*sigh*...No, I can't do that, I'm more than just some common thief, I swore on Uncle Ben's grave that I would be better than that. Besides, McNamara has such a kind heart, she trusts me and invited me into her home, I can't betray her like that." 

In the Living Room of McNamara's Penthouse, stood Veronica's second opponent of the night: Heather Duke. Duke was dressed all in green as was her wont, however like McNamara, her clothes were far more casual than usual. Like McNamara she was barefoot, she wore a loose fitting shirt that showed off her unquestionably expensive bra and a simple pair of leggings that also probably cost a great deal of money. Her skin was sickly pale and her dark eyes were stained black with heavy eyeshadow, her long, ink black hair was tied in a scrunchie and hung over her shoulder, her lips and nails were shiny and black. If it wasn't for the colourful clothes then Heather could’ve easily been mistaken for a goth. 

"I guess this was supposed to be a casual shindig? But I dressed up special and everything! How was I supposed to know! No one told me! When do The Heathers ever do anything casual!" 

Out of The Heathers, Duke was by-far the most complicated of them. She was painfully thin, her bones were so horrifically prominent it was almost nightmarish. After every meal Duke would head straight to the bathroom and everyone would know what she was going to do, not that anyone would do anything about it, one of the many unspoken rules of The Heathers was never to mention Duke's bulimia...unless it was for a joke, then it was open season on her. Veronica wanted to help her, to save her, but Duke didn't want to be saved, not by her at least. When The Heathers had taken Veronica to buy a brand new, Heather approved, wardrobe, Veronica had tried to reach out to the green-clad girl, all she got in return was a slap to the face. Veronica wanted to be friends with her, she wanted to feel sympathy for her, but since the moment she had met Duke, Heather had taken every chance she could to remind Veronica that she loathed her, and that made it pretty hard for Veronica to feel anything but contempt for the girl. Duke despised her, she ridiculed and tormented Veronica for any reason. Before joining The Heathers, Duke had even gotten violent with her a couple times which even the other Heathers never did, they just got Kurt and Ram to do it for them, but after a certain spider bite, that didn’t work out so well for them anymore, Veronica was just way too fast and nimble to catch. 

But after Veronica became a Heather, she was more-or-less off limits to everyone except Chandler. Never-the-less, Duke had still tried to pick-on Veronica but ever since that fateful day in the girls bathroom, Duke had been on very thin-ice. Chandler had been Veronica’s knight in scarlet armour, coming to her aid whenever she needed her, Veronica couldn’t help but feel giddy when Chandler defended her. But Chandler wasn’t here right now, and whether Veronica was still a Heather was debatable. 

"Soooooooo, the rug-muncher actually showed up! Ha! I am so going to enjoy th-" Her bigoted soliloquy was cut short when she spotted McNamara latched onto the pinnacle of masculine beauty that was Thor. Duke's pale face quickly turned bubblegum pink, her eyes dilated, all memory of her hatred for Veronica was forgotten. She was falling for him hook, line, and sinker just like Veronica had planned. 

Veronica felt a great deal of relief now that two-out-of-three Heathers had fallen into her trap. Now all that was left was Heather Chandler, the most unpredictable of The Heathers. For all Veronica knew, Heather could just as easily shrug off Veronica’s disappearance as she could slit her throat the moment she saw her, either scenario was just as likely. 

The sound of squealing girls brought Veronica out of her thoughts and into reality. Thor stood proud with his arms held high, Duke and McNamara sat atop each of his flexed biceps which showed not a sign of strain, both McNamara and Duke were giggling and kicking their feet with pure delight. Veronica snorted, this was just too absurd not to find funny, The Heathers hanging out with an Avenger, it was surreal. 

“This is starting to sound like a bad fan-fiction plot.” 

“Ronnie!?” 

Like a blizzard, the room froze over, all eyes turned and there she was, Heather Chandler, Veronica felt time slow to a standstill, she could feel the heat rise up in her cheeks. Chandler looked into Veronica's eyes with her strong winter blue orbs and excitement struck Veronica like a bolt of lighting, her body started twitching and begged her to jump around the room. To Veronica, Heather Chandler was the pure personification of sex. Fiery Red eyeshadow painted Chandler's eyelids, blood red lipstick painted her soft, inviting lips. Her skin was porcelain white and her hair was platinum blonde, the colours were almost identical. Chandler wore a red leather jacket with a white midriff shirt underneath, lacy black thigh-highs clung to her flesh and her black miniskirt danced playfully with each step; her hips wiggling from side-to-side. Her ruby heels made a rhythmic clicking as she strode across the tiles, every click making Veronica’s privates clench in arousal. Chandler marched up to Veronica and brushed a hand through Veronica’s chocolate brown hair. Their bodies were nearly rubbing against each other, Chandler stared into her eyes with a rare softness, Chandlers lips were so close that Veronica could feel Heathers breathe on her nose, hot like fire. Veronica’s head was spinning, she felt drunk in Chandler’s presence, all common sense and self-control seemed to just drift away. 

“So close. If I just moved a little closer, it would be our second kiss. Duke and McNamara would see, by Monday morning everyone would know, god only knows what Chandler would do but damn the consequences!” 

"I'm impressed Ronnie. You must have a huge set of lady-balls to show yourself in front of me. But you see, the thing is...I don't like balls." 

Just as Veronica was about to move into Chandler’s lips, Heather picked up the shorter girl by her armpits and shook her rapidly like one might shake an empty ketchup bottle; Chandler was surprisingly strong! She was also the tallest girl in their year, so she could easily hold Veronica a foot above the ground. 

“How dare you run out on me!? You made a promise! You think you can just ditch me and come crawling back!? What is wrong with you!? You didn’t even leave me a message to tell me you were gone! I was worried, you fucking slut!” Heather shouted, still shaking Veronica in the air; were this a cartoon, no doubt numerous birds would be fluttering in circles around her head. 

In one swift motion, Heather hefted Veronica over her shoulder and marched through the apartment. 

Dangling upside down was not the ideal position for Veronica to be in, for her stomach had been churning after the tenth shake she received from the freakishly strong blonde. She clamped her eyes shut so she wouldn’t be distracted by the intricate patterns of the rug, and focused solely on her breathing. 

Breath in. 

Breathe out. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

"Huh. It worked...Oh, no. Wait. It made her feel much worse."

Her eyes snapped open. “I’m gonna chuck!” 

Chandler stopped with such speed that she practically left skid marks on the floor. “Chuck? Oh fuck no, ho.” 

Changing direction, Heather virtually flew down the hallway, determination raging beneath her impossibly long lashes. “Don’t you dare even think about puking on me, bitch – I’m still paying for this jacket.” 

Reaching the balcony outside, Heather flung Veronica from her shoulder and forced her head over the railing all in one fluid motion. 

“You’re...hurting me...” 

Veronica forced out through shaky breaths, a few strands of hair clinging to her forehead thanks to sweat. 

Chandler’s gaze hardened and she tightened her grip on the base of Veronica’s neck. “Just shut up and vomit.” 

Veronica’s gaze shifted away from the beautiful blonde to the street below. Not only was she feeling sick, but now she was feeling more than a little sorry for herself. 

Chandler’s face was carved into a permanent scowl. Anger coursed through her bloodstream, yet she had no idea as to why. 

“Why did I freak out at her like that? She was late, so what? It’s not like I’ve never ditched my friends. . God, why am I like this! Veronica is no one, just another girl...a pretty girl but- Aaarrrgh! Christ, I’m acting like a guy with a stiffy! I mean, I was worried, she’s my best friend, when she vanished without a word, what am I supposed to think!? I was scared, I thought something happened to her...But no, she just ditched me...Why does that sting?” 

She was yanked from her self-deprecation when Veronica spoke. 

“Turns out I didn’t have to chuck after all.” 

“And yet you still look like shit.” Heather couldn’t help but comment. 

The condescension in her tone had not been lost on Veronica, and her brows came together to form a frown. “Yeah, well, this is the result of being shaken about like a fucking ragdoll.” 

Chandler’s eyes narrowed faintly, brow twitching in irritation. “Did you just answer me back?” 

Veronica knew that swallowing down her pride and apologising would have been the more preferable – and certainly safest – course of action, but it’s been a long fucking day, and with the newly acquired nausea, Veronica was in a pretty shitty mood. 

“I was simply pointing out the effect of your unwarranted abuse.” 

“Abuse?” Heather almost choked on the word. 

This bitch had a serious death wish. Her hand snapped out and closed around the other girl’s wrist like a bear trap, her perfectly manicured nails leaving tiny indents behind on her skin. “Are we gonna have a problem? You got a bone to pick? You’ve come so far, why now are you pulling on my dick?” 

Veronica’s own gaze hardened, and Heather could have sworn she was being challenged. “What are you going to do? Slap my face off? Let everyone watch?” 

Chandler did not care for this sudden surge of confidence from the usual meek and timid brunette; she had reached breaking point, and before she could even comprehend her own actions, she had pinned Veronica to the wall. 

Heather stared down at the shorter girl, Veronica stared back, their eyes locked, second after second passed, each waiting for the other to make a move. The tension was thick as tar, almost like a minefield, the smallest movement could mean death. As Heather stared down at the girl pinned to the wall, she felt her anger melt away like hot wax, Veronica’s short dark-brown hair fell around her face, gently blowing in the breeze. In the moonlight her hair could easily be mistaken for black, but this was when Heather thought she looked most beautiful, bathed in moonlight. Her hair was soft and delicate, beautiful and strong, like the silk of a spider. 

Desire ran rampant throughout Veronica’s body, it was like a fever, she could feel Heather’s knee unintentionally pressing between her thighs, her heart was racing. Confusion ran rampant throughout Heather’s body, she felt high, dizzy and lightheaded but fantastically giddy, the air was thick with tension, Heather felt like she needed to do something but her mind was far too scattered to think, it was like when you tried to remember something but it was just out of reach, you could imagine a vague image but it’s too blurry to make out. 

“Heather...” Veronica whimpered, her body was burning, she needed it bad, she needed Heather bad. The tension was at boiling point but it was anything but hostile. 

Almost like they were acting on autopilot, the two moved in closer together, their chests and stomachs rubbing up against each other, Heather’s hands moved from Veronica’s wrists up to her hands, locking fingers with the shorter girl. Heather could smell Veronica, iron and smoke, she didn’t know why she always smelt like that but she didn’t care, she liked it. 

Veronica was soaked at this point, the feeling of being forced against the wall, her hands pinned, Heather’s knee grinding against the inside of her skirt. Their noses grazed against each other, little-by-little their lips inched together, the consequences didn’t matter anymore, all that that mattered was Veronica and Heather and how much they wanted this. As the two girls moved closer, Heather could feel her lips brush against Veronica’s. 

“Please.” Veronica barely whispered, begging more than asking. 

“Veronica? Heather? Is everythi-“ Chandler and Veronica practically flew apart as McNamara came into view, but by the way McNamara had frozen, it was obvious that she had seen what was about to happen. 

“Goddammit Mac! You cockblocking whore-sucker! I was about to score.” 

McNamara shook like she was made of jello, Chandler’s eyes blazed like hot coals with anger. Out of The Heathers, Chandler had always been the most outspoken with her homophobia, there were a lot of reasons Chandler could come up with to hate someone but homosexuality was by-far the easiest for her, now McNamara had seen Chandler pressing Veronica up against a wall ready for a heavy make out session. If word got out about this, then the hypocrisy alone would be enough to destroy her. All it would take would be one word from McNamara: Lesbian. 

“Uuuuhhhh, Mac? You wanna take a couple steps away from the balcony? I’m just starting to realize that we are a long way up and Chan isn’t exactly the model of stability when she’s happy, so best not tempt fate right-now, okay?” McNamara looked like she was about to cry. “Fuck, I forgot other people are healthy and don’t use humour for defence!” 

Chandler marched up to McNamara and simply ordered “Not a word. Ever.” Before shoving past the teary blonde and out of sight. She hadn’t even spared Veronica a glimpse, now that she was gone, Veronica had to wonder ‘what just happened’? While lost in the passion, Veronica hadn’t had the mind to question it, but now that the intoxicating scent of Heather Chandler had dwindled away to nothing but a tantalising aftertaste, she was free to allow herself a momentary meltdown.   

Walking back into the living room and picking up a cushion from the couch, she buried her face into the plush fabric and screamed. Just screamed. Every ounce of pent up sexual frustration and confusion erupted from her lungs and was absorbed into the cushion. 

Looking up from the cushion, she was met by the eyes of Thor, Heather, Heather and Heather who had followed her back inside from the balcony. 

“Uuuuhhhh, Veronica? Something happen?” Duke asked, unsettled by the sudden outburst. 

“Why?” 

“Uh, because you just screamed at a pillow?” 

“No I didn’t.” 

“A- Yes you did! I saw you!” 

“...No you didn’t.” 

“...Okay, fine! What happened out there Heather?” Duke asked turning to Chandler for answers. 

“Shut up Heather!” Chandler shouted bluntly, her face blushing brightly. 

“...Sorry Heather.” Duke said, however unlike every other time Veronica had seen the ‘shut up Heather’ exchange, this time, Duke didn’t look apologetic or even the slightest bit scared. She sounded sickeningly sweet, her expression matched that of a shark smelling blood in the water, it made Veronica sick to her stomach, Duke didn’t know exactly what had happened out on the balcony, but she obviously knew something had happened, something that McNamara was afraid to talk about and Chandler was ashamed of. 

“Wait...ashamed?...She’s ashamed of me...of what happened out there...If she had kissed me, then what would’ve happened? Would she have come to her senses, pushed me off her and called me a whore? Would she have passed the blame onto me when McNamara came through the door, spread the word around school about Veronica the Dyke. Would McNamara have run back to Duke, would they have turned us into outcasts, what would Chandler do if she were made a pariah with me? I doubt she would pull me out from the wreckage left behind from this unfortunate incident – no doubt she’d be standing on the sidelines with sadistic glee, watching as I’m slowly crushed by the metaphorical debris.” 

As much as Veronica tried to hold it in, the pain came out like an uproar from her throat in the form of a silent scream. Her eyes drip with tears. Her walls – the walls that hold her up, make her strong – just...collapse. Moment by moment, they fall. Salty droplets fall from her chin, drenching her shirt – the fanciest shirt she had ever bought solely for this get together in hopes of being accepted. 

She had to get out of here. She had to go somewhere safe. A momentary sanctuary where she could feel safe once more. 

Rushing from the balcony, she chose to ignore Thor’s booming voice calling out to her as she stormed into the bathroom. Now she was safe. Now she could break down. 

The sobs punched through, ripping through her muscles, bones, and guts. She pressed her forehead against the large format tiles of white honed travertine and began to let her heart yank in and out of her chest. It pulled back in like a yo-yo. Over and over. In and out. She was hollow. Her life was crumbling and there was no possible way to keep hold of the pieces. 

"What is wrong with me, just stop! It's not like I'm in love w-" Veronica's mind froze over, 

"No, no, no! This can't be happening! I won't let it happen! This is supposed to be just a crush, nothing more!...Okay, okay, keep it together V, think it through. I can't be...in love...with Heather Chandler, I just can't! Chandler would never feel the same way, she's just about the most un-gay girl I've ever met, plus she's a homophobic bitch! I mean, she did just almost kiss me, and I don’t know her all that well, and it’s not like she’d ever out her self if she was. Maybe...no, no, I can't let myself feel that way about her...I could love her, no doubt...but...she would never love me back...I'll just get hurt...just like with Cat. Okay V, you just have to turn it off, just like a light switch, just turn it off." 

To Veronica, falling for Heather was a bad idea, because that tempted her, it made her want to come out to Heather and tell her how she felt, but she couldn’t, not in Westerberg. People may have made their ‘jokes’, but her sexuality was just a rumour in the minds of Westerberg High and most people didn’t really believe it. If they did then Veronica would have been in actual danger. 

Veronica remembered back in first year, poor little Liz Allen publicly came out of the closet on the first day of high school, Veronica didn’t know that she herself was gay at the time but she remembered feeling inspired and very happy for the girl. A week later Liz was found beaten into a coma in the boys bathroom, Veronica didn’t want to know what else was done to her in that bathroom but she feared the worst. No one was ever convicted of that crime and to this day Liz Allen is still on life-support. This event made sure that in Westerberg, anyone in the closet, stayed in the closet. 

Wiping the tears from her face, Veronica looked into the mirror to check the damage her rampaging teen emotions had done to her makeup. Considering the kind of day she’d been having, it didn’t look that bad, far from perfect but it would do. 

Hesitantly Veronica left the safety of the bathroom behind and made her way back to the living room. McNamara and Chandler sat next to each other, they each looked equally uncomfortable, neither looking anywhere near the other. Duke seemed to be setting up something on Mac’s entertainment system and Thor’s eyes were glued to her wiggling behind. 

“Who’s up for some Mor-tal Kom-bat!?” Duke howled in a sing-song tune, mimicking the arcade fighter’s classic theme. Standing up with a remote in each hand. 

“Mortal combat? Ha! You have made a grave boner challenging The Mighty Thor to a fight-to-the-death! Thor declares dips on the green one!” Thor bellowed, summoning Mjölnir to his hand, eyes full of fire. 

Thor jumped into the air, lighting radiating from his eyes and crackling around his hammer. With speed and reactions that only a superhuman could reach, Veronica pounced on Duke, knocking her out of the way. Mjölnir came down on Mac’s coffee table, smashing it into splinters. 

“Table, noooooo!” Mac shouted. 

“Thor! The fuck!?” Veronica shrieked. 

“What? I have been challenged to a fight-to-the-death! I am bound by honour to beat The Green One’s head into a bloody pulp, what is so wrong with that!?” 

“Son of a bitch, I’ve been here thirty minutes at most!...This is going to be a loooooong night.” 

(A/N: So, it's been a bit of a while since I updated this story, but I've been working hard on other projects. I'm hoping to update this story at least once a month. On a side note, I've reached 13 followers! Not a big milestone for most but it's pretty amazing to me!

Thanks to my editor/proof-reader AssassinOrTemplar.)


	7. Firing Squad Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to check the story out on Wattpad.

(A/N: Happy Pride Month everybody, I hope everyone reading is comfortable and proud of who they are, because you guy's are all awesome~!) 

(2nd A/N: Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are all very much welcome. Now if I'm being honest, I don't think this is my best work, but still I hope you all enjoy~!) 

(TRIGGER WARNING: Extreme body horror and gore, itchiness, homophobic slurs, flashbacks, too many words and buckets of angst.) 

Thanks to the pounding head, thick and sticky saliva tainted with the repulsive aftertaste of vomit, and surprisingly agonising dehydration, Veronica came to the conclusion that she must have engaged in some seriously heavy drinking last night. 

But could anyone blame her? 

After being forced to listen to Thor's conquests - again - and embarrassing, highly sexualised anecdotes, Veronica decided that the only way to survive was to numb herself both physically and mentally. 

She smacked her lips, mouth feeling as though it had been stuffed with cotton wool. Did she ingest a sheet of sandpaper last night? Because her throat was in agony. In fact, every part of her was painful and reluctant to move. It was like the flu only self-inflicted, which meant she would receive no sympathy from anyone else. 

Her eyelids pried themselves open halfway only to fall shut a few seconds later. 

Painkillers. She definitely needed painkillers. But on second thought...that probably wouldn't be the wisest of decisions with the way her stomach was currently feeling; it bubbled and churned, crying out for some form of relief. 

With as much strength as she could muster, her hands wiggled around to the front and came to rest on her stomach, clutching at it with the naive belief that she could rid herself of the nausea with something as simple as a belly rub. But something was wrong. It didn't...feel right. Had her stomach always been this flat? 

With a furrowed brow, her hands slide upwards, further examining the body she automatically assumed was her own. Her hands came to settle upon her breasts; only they were plumper, firmer, and much, much larger - that should have been the tip off that something wasn't right. But in her defence, her mind was still laden with last night's alcohol. 

She groped, squeezed, and fondled the voluptuous pair of breasts she was beginning to believe belonged to her. But her inquisitive mauling came to an abrupt end when her name came exploding from the lips of the Heather she had been unintentionally sexually assaulting for the past minute. 

Veronica's symptoms of a hangover were dried up and replaced by adrenaline, which was the cause of her hands flying away from the other girl's body as though she had been scorched, and her eyes popping open, startled. 

What she was faced with had the colour drain from her cheeks and turned her blood to ice. 

Heather Duke. 

"Fuck." 

"Fuck is right." Duke is practically foaming at the mouth, appearing more rabid animal than teenage girl - Veronica can only imagine how horrible it must be to be touched by the person you despise more than anything else. "What the fuck were you doing, dyke?" 

"I wasn't-" 

"Do you get your jollies molesting people in their sleep?! You a fucking sexual predator?!" She continues to rant, stonewalling Veronica's attempt to defend herself. "I can have you locked up for this abuse, you know. One call to my lawyer and your queer ass will never see the outside world again." 

Veronica's brow twitched faintly as irritation slithered through her veins; she was a goddamn superhero. A saviour of the people. So to be inadvertently compared to the actual sexual predators she manages to hand over to the authorities was the ultimate insult. 

"Shut up, Heather." Chandler interjected as she rose from a tangle of blankets, golden hair in disarray, a stray, knotted strand stuck to her plump lower lip thanks to the saliva which had dried on her mouth overnight. "It's too early in the morning for your bullshit." 

Duke made the mistake of trying to argue. "But Heather-" 

"Shut up, Heather." Chandler reiterated, her tone adopting her usual commanding tone. 

Veronica couldn't help but note the similarities between the Heather's and a wolf pack; Chandler, obviously, was the alpha, and the other two were nothing but a couple of frightened pups unwilling to challenge her authority. 

"Sorry, Heather," Duke eventually capitulates, eyes casting downwards. 

Seemingly satisfied, Chandler shifted her focus to Veronica. Her rosebud lips quirked upwards at one corner. "Morning, tit-grabber." 

Veronica deflates. And here she was naively believing that Chandler's smile was one due to genuine happiness, not to complement an unwarranted jibe. 

"I'm not a tit-grabber," Veronica argued feebly, desperately fighting the urge to throw a tantrum and make a spectacle of how unfair their treatment of her was. 

"That's not how Heather tells it." 

"Yeah, well, what was Duke doing sleeping so close to me anyway? The lounge isn't big enough?" Her eyes hovered accusingly in Duke's direction, which earned her a venomous glare in retaliation. 

"And that gives you the right to molest me?!" She snorts, a cruel, disparaging sound. "You really are a freak." 

Veronica had been called many things in her life - slut, burnout, poser, hunchback. But not one of those held the same power as the word 'freak'; long before superpowers were even in the equation, she knew she wasn't like everyone else. Adults ignored her, girls taunted her, and boys overlooked her - which she realised mattered naught now. Still, she had been rejected by the masses as soon as words learnt to leave her lips. The years had been lonely, and she daren't imagine how much worse life would be if Aunt May and Martha hadn't been there to keep her standing. 

Things have gotten better though. Or maybe she had just grown accustomed to the loneliness. She didn't know which was the truth and she didn't exactly want to spend too much time dwelling on the answer. 

"I don't have to deal with this shit." Veronica uttered beneath her breath so that no Heather would hear. 

She may not think much of herself, but she does still deserve to be treated with respect. She came here to have a good time, not be ridiculed. 

She went to throw back the covers so she could pack her things and head home. But she froze, her eyes doubling in size. As Veronica squealed and desperately tried to pull the blanket back around her, the other Heathers fell over in laughter. Apparently they had been waiting for her to notice. 

Veronica scanned the room in desperation, trying to pinpoint the exact location of her pants. Yet what she found instead was enough to conjure nightmares: Thor, passed out on the Paisley rug, completely on display for the world as there were no sight of his pants - that includes underpants - anywhere nearby. 

"Huh...So that's what it looks like in person...? Ew." Veronica thought with disgust. 

"What the hell happened last night!? Why am I naked!?" Veronica's eyes slowly turned to Duke. "What did you do to me when I was drunk!?" 

Duke's face twisted in shock and revulsion. She couldn't believe what she just heard. 

"How dare you!? You, you, you did that to yourself!" The green Heather screamed before stomping off to go find Mac who had ended up god only knows where. This left Veronica alone with Chandler for the first time since their near-kiss experience - well they were alone with the exception of the almost naked Thor. 

"...Soooooooo, what did I do last night...and what happened to my clothes!?" Veronica asked both hesitantly and worryingly. While Veronica could remember saving Duke from Thor's hammer, most of the Mortal Kombat Tournament and opening a couple bottles of wine to help her forget her troubles, Veronica couldn't remember a thing after that. It was a total blackout. 

Heather Chandler cackled like The Wicked Witch of The West, no doubt remembering some of the shit Veronica had gotten up to on her inebriated state. 

"A better question would be what didn't you do?" Again, Chandler howled in laughter, enjoying Veronica's look of confusion and fret. Veronica felt like she should be angry, but in an odd way she felt tremendous relief. While she was indeed worried about what had happened last night, seeing Chandler joke around with her made her feel like their relationship was being mended back to best friends. 

Finally, Chandler calmed herself enough to tell Veronica all about her drunken shenanigans. 

"Let's see, where to even start? Well the first stupid thing you did was challenge The God of Thunder to a drinking competition. Eventually after five-dozen bottles of wine I think the two of you forgot you were in competition at all. The two of you together devastated the McNamara Wine Cellar. Shortly afterwards you convinced Thor to never wear pants again in tribute to Baldur god of light. That was interesting." 

Veronica was already neck deep in shame. To think she acted so stupidly so early on in the night. And yet there was more to come, how much further had she sunk. 

"Then, you decided you wanted to start a restaurant in Mac's kitchen~!" Chandler continued, her voice alight with delight. "You tried to make and I quote 'luxury pie' and you slapped Duke for not speaking French in 'your' kitchen, oh yeah, and you tried to burn her hands because apparently 'real chefs have burnt hands'. Then when you ran out of wine, you started to drink the vinegar. I couldn't believe it!" 

"Well that explains why I'm so fucking thirsty." Veronica deadpanned within her mind. 

"And finally, you started to get very annoyed with how hot you were, probably because of the many fires you started in the kitchen. In the end you decided that the best way to solve this problem was to get in the fridge, and when you couldn't fit, I think your exact words were 'I would fit if I didn't have these damn clothes'. And that's when the clothes started coming of~!" Chandler was almost hysterical with laughter at this point. Veronica knew exactly what was going to happen at this point. The Heathers would repeat the stories of Veronica's drunken kitchen madness ad-nauseum for years to come. And if Veronica knew Chandler half-as-well as she thought, the red bitch was keeping the lion's share of embarrassing moments hidden...for now. 

"Do you happen to remember where I left my clothes?" Veronica asked, very much tired of this conversation. 

"Out the window I believe." Chandler tittered with a slimy smile. 

"Great. How absolutely and positively wonderful. I've lost an entire set of clothing and shamed myself in the process and for what? A drunken night I'll never remember? You foolish girl! Now you've got to beg for a single scrap of clothing just so you don't have to walk home in a blanket...assuming Mac would let you borrow the blanket after what you did to her kitchen. Why did I think one set of clothing would be enough for a weekend with The Heathers! Any other weekend and one set of clothing would be fine but not this weekend!...Actually, now that I think about it more clearly, perhaps it's for the best that I didn't bring more clothes, otherwise I probably would've dumped the lot." 

"Um...uh?" Veronica cleared her throat. "Heather?...Do you have any clothes that I could borrow?" Veronica asked weakly, trying to sound sweeter than she felt. 

Heather looked at her curiously for a moment, forbidding even the slightest bit of emotion to show itself. Slowly the menacing smile of a lion who had cornered a little lamb spread across her ruby lips. 

"Poor Ronnie, afraid of walking home in your birthday suit?" Chandler mocked. "I could let you borrow an old shirt to cover your fish-taco, but what do I get in return?" 

"...What do you want Heather?" Veronica sighed.

"Weeeeeeelllllllllllll...last night when you gave us all a good show, I saw something that threw me for a loop. There in plain sight on the right cheek of your ass, a little black cat drawn in ink. You have a tattoo and I want to know everything about it." 

 

"I didn't know you were so curious about my body Heather." Veronica joked. Chandler's eye's sharpened, her eyebrows furrowing in anger. 

"Uh! Sorry! Bad joke!" Veronica said hurriedly. 

Heather stared at her expectantly, waiting for Veronica to get a move on. 

A tired sigh escaped Veronica's throat before relenting to Heather's demands. 

"Fine...It was a couple years back. I was stupid and in love. There isn't much to say." 

"In love? Oh this is juicy! Who was it?" 

"...I...never got a name." 

"...What!? Are you telling me that you fucked a guy without even asking him name! Ha! Ronnie I am seeing a whole new side of you! Did you wear a mask and use a whip as well?" Heather asked, laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. 

"No!...yes...but I wasn't the one who used the whip!" 

As Heather laughed about Veronica's former escapades, the girl in blue couldn't help but think back to her past, back to the first love of her life. 

THREE YEARS AGO 

It was during Veronica's first year as Spider-Man, she was fourteen and still getting used to her new abilities. While the superpowers were undoubtedly awesome, her early days were shadowed by grief. She had let her Uncle die, the man who had raised her and loved her, the closest thing she had to a father, she let die out of pure hubris. The guilt was like black mould, spreading and growing through her body, poisoning her from the inside, the infestation was draining the life out of her. 

Until the day she met her. 

For the last couple days, The Daily Bugle had been in a frenzy over a spree of impossible robberies, in under a week the mysterious thief had managed to steal over four-million dollars worth of diamonds, art and cash from some of the most secure buildings in New York, and the most impressive part was that no one had even seen a glimpse of the villain. Unfortunately for Veronica, the first victim of the robberies was none other than J. Jonah Jameson - her semi-psychotic boss. Jameson had offered up a reward of ten-thousand dollars to any schmuck with a camera for a clear picture of the robber's face, and he was up Veronica's ass ranting about how the thief was secretly Spider-Man, or at least working with Spider-Man. Veronica didn't know what she wanted more, the reward money or to shut Jameson up, they were equally attractive prizes. 

It took some good ol' fashion detective work, but she managed to track down the location of the hideout where all the loot was being stored in an old train depot. Veronica had expected to find the burglar, but she never suspected to find her quite like this. 

Lying down in a bed covered in cash and diamonds, her suit was unzipped with her firm breasts hanging out, succulent and inviting like two plump puddings. Veronica didn't know what to expect when she found the thief, but a sexy-as-hell cat-burglar in tight black leather was pretty damn far from what she imagined; hair the colour of freshly fallen snow hung in loose ringlets over her shoulders; eyes as bright and as tantalising as the emeralds piled in the corner flooded with intrigue as they fell upon the vigilante loitering in the doorway; painted black lips glistened in a rather enticing manner after having been caressed by her tongue. 

Immediately Veronica felt insecure. Her costume was homemade and ratty, stinking of blood and city trash. Her costume consisted of a red sleeveless hoodie with a long sleeved thermal jumper coloured blue, she wore insulated red boots with blue sweat pants and black fingerless gloves. Last but not least was the red balaclava covering her face with homemade goggles covering the eyes made of camera lenses. 

"Oh, dear," she began, voice low and intimate, as though she were conversing with a lover rather than a stranger, "it appears as though I've been caught - whatever will I do?" 

Her body sprawls across satin sheets, every move slow and deliberate with the intent to seduce. 

Low, drawn out purrs emanate from the thief's throat - apparently she took her role as cat burglar literally. "Are you going punish me? I hope so. I've been a very bad kitty." 

"...You sound like an eighties porn movie." 

Black Cat finds humour in the comparison and provides a laugh, delicate yet oddly husky at the same time. The sound was capable of sending an oddly pleasurable shiver down the length of Veronica's spine. 

"What was this feeling, so sudden and new? This warmth? My pulse is rushing, my head is reeling, my face is flushing! What is this feeling!" 

With the quiet grace of a panther, Cat rose to all-fours and stalked across the bed, Veronica never stood a chance. 

PRESENT DAY 

Breakfast was served. During Veronica's drunken attempt at starting a small business, McNamara's kitchen had been nearly obliterated. No food was spared in the carnage, either being destroyed in her attempt at cooking or left to spoil when she tried to move into the fridge. Veronica had been understandably upset by what she had done and after finding Mac passed out on the toilet, pleaded to Mac to let her pay off the damages but Mac was truly the kindest of The Heathers. Mac laughed off the chaos and embraced Veronica, promising to return any money Veronica paid her in the form of designer clothes if she tried. 

For breakfast, the group had ordered a BLT wrap for Mac, Chandler had ordered sushi, three sausage and egg burritos with jalapeños and bacon for Veronica and Duke had claimed to not be hungry so ordered nothing. 

Duke absent-mindedly scrolled through her Wattpad as the group ate, waiting for friends from far-off lands she would much rather be spending time with to come online so she could RP and escape her real life. At this moment she was desperately trying to ignore the smell of Veronica's food which both repulsed her and drove her close to madness with hunger. 

"Must you eat that fatty garbage in front of me!? Why can you not eat a salad for breakfast like a normal person!" She bellowed in a grumpy tone. 

"Salad for breakfast? I'm a growing girl! Not a turtle! I need my meat! I'm still flat as a board and some of us can't pay for tits, we have to grow them naturally!" Veronica shouted before taking a big bite of scrambled egg, crispy bacon, fried sausages and spicy Jalapeño. She loved good food and no one was going to ruin breakfast for her. 

"Hey! Don't you dare get egg on my blazer Ronnie or you'll pay in limbs." Chandler said brusquely. Before breakfast, Chandler had allowed Veronica to borrow a set of clothing to cover her shame, specifically Chandler's iconic rose-red outfit that she favoured for school. Chandler's white shirt and scarlet blazer hung baggy on Veronica's thin body, the blazer falling down her shoulders. Chandler's black plaid skirt that was so short and playful on Heather, hung nearly past Veronica's knees. Heather's stockings pooled around Veronica's ankles and Heather's shoes were just large enough to be awkward. Heather's tall hourglass body highlighted just how thin and short Veronica was in comparison as long as she wore her clothes. 

From the hall, the ding of the elevator opening echoed. The girls paused in confusion and for some perhaps a bit of fear. McNamara wordlessly left her seat to investigate the noise and by the nervous yet forcefully cheerful call of "Daddy~!" from Mac, Veronica deduced that McNamara's father had returned home when he wasn't entirely expected. 

"What are you doing home so early?" Veronica could hear Mac ask with a tremble in her voice. 

"Work. Some son of nobody-cares was hired as the junior-assistant-head-manager of the transactions and purchases database without any qualifications. Now we need the records for our California branch by five and god only knows where the hard copies are and that moron sure as hell didn't make a digital backup-copy in the backup-database. I swear if I don't find a copy by five today, the IRS is going to ram-" Mr. McNamara walked into the kitchen and stopped his rotten language short. 

"Girls." Mr. McNamara stated before his eyes narrowed on Veronica. "A new one?" By his tone, he wasn't the biggest fan of his daughter's friends, but Veronica was a huge fan of his. 

"Holy. Fuck. Norman McNamara is Mac's dad? I mean it makes sense when you think about it. But her dad is Norman fucking McNamara!" 

Norman McNamara was a man with a tall man of slender build in his fifties. He looked tired and worn by stress but at the same time his posture and body language spoke of strength and experience. He was quite a handsome man for his age, with strong features and shaggy sandy-brown hair with a sandy-brown beard. Like his daughter, he had lime green eyes but unlike his daughter, his eyes were far more jaded and suspicious. 

"You're...you're..." Veronica stuttered in awe. 

"I'm what? Cat got your tongue girl? Spit it out!" Norman demanded in the tone of a soldier. 

"You're...Norman McNamara." 

Norman looked down at her like she was an ape eating the flies from it's own dung. 

"...Yes...I was aware." 

"I mean, I mean you're Norman McNamara! You won the Nobel Prize in chemistry when you were just twenty-four! Your McNamara-Process made terraformation possible! Because of you, in fifty years Mars will be completely habitable for humans! You're awesome." Veronica finished breathlessly. She was utterly star struck. 

"I, ah, I am surprised one of my daughter's friends know who I am." Norman slightly stuttered in shock. 

"Know who you are!? You're one of the greatest scientific minds of our time! You're a hero!" 

Norman seemed lost for words. He was so used to the attitudes of the other Heathers which were often crude and mindless so he was shocked at the warm kindness and childlike admiration that the young girl projected. 

"I-...thank you." 

Only now did Veronica realise how forward she had been acting. Blushing, she looked around the table to see her friends who each stared at her oddly. In particular was Mac who seemed to be astounded and confounded, she had no idea that Veronica knew so much about her father. 

"Uuuuhhhh...sorry...I'm a nerd." 

Norman set a pile of files on the table and made his way to his office. Veronica would've sat down to finish her breakfast and thought nothing of the files except for the fact that they were left open. Veronica's eyes were drawn to a blueprint covered in notes that seemed to be for some kind of flying machine. The harder Veronica tried to pull her eyes from the files, the more she desperately wanted to read every inch of the papers. 

"No! Those are private! You are not allowed V! It's probably corporate espionage to even sniff those files let alone read them....Oh who cares!" 

Veronica snatched up the file with the flying machine and began to quickly read through it. 

"Veronica! Wait, no! That's my dad's stuff, you're not allowed to read it!" 

"Don't be such a pillowcase Mac, I'm just having a skim through the good parts." 

"The Goblin Glider. (Note: Change name to 'The Goblyn Glider', the 'y' makes it look cooler.) This glider is designed to be used by both armed forces and emergency services, it can be piloted by a single person to fly through cities with minimal sound and be loaded with a variety of equipment from missiles and machine guns to fire hoses and defibrillators. (Note: Look into industrial tethers, if we get this damn thing to work then we could make big $$$ in construction.) (Note: Norman, this machine has to be completely overhauled. It just doesn't work! Our pilots keep crashing and someone's going to get seriously hurt unless we slow things down and really figure things out.)" As Veronica read through the design and notes she began to see what was wrong with the machine and why it kept crashing. 

"Do you make it a habit to stick your nose where it does not belong?" 

Veronica jumped in fright at the sound of Norman McNamara's voice. Looking up from the file in her hand, Veronica could see that Norman was restraining himself but nonetheless he was absolutely pissed. In the eyes of the other Heathers, she could see the fear plain as day on their faces, even on the face of Heather Chandler was the look of a woman watching the love of her life being walked to the gallows. 

"Well girl!? What do you have to say girl!? Are you going to defend yourself or are you going to just stand there looking stupid!?" Norman asked, he voice heavy with disgust. Veronica felt a rock weight in her stomach. 

"Okay, okay, okay! Think fast, I've got to say something, say something smart and fast. But what to- Yes! Okay." Veronica had devised a plan, bolder than she would've liked but it was all she had. 

"Your glider, I believe I know why it keeps crashing. The cooling system is top of the line but it's built for fighter jets which are much bigger, it needs to be calibrated to suit a the much smaller engine otherwise it'll overcool and cause engine failure at higher altitudes." Veronica really hoped she was as smart as she thought. 

"Also, if you used a Neural-Interface then the pilots could control the glider using only their body and mind, it would improve reaction time and the removed control panel would make the device far more aerodynamic. Otto Octavius created a similar device to control his tentacles so I would start by researching those, but be careful, the slightest malfunction in a Neural-Interface is what drove Doctor Octavius mad so I would make sure the device only uses minimal input from the pilot's mind and use weight balance to control the trajectory, sort of like a bird." 

Norman took the file from her hands and ran his eyes over the design. His look was blank and emotionless and Veronica couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. For two and a half minutes the unbearable silence continued until he snapped the file shut, the sound startling all present. 

"Your name girl." Norman demanded in his baritone voice. It wasn't a request. 

"Uh, Veronica! Sawyer!...Hi?" Veronica finished nervously. 

"You've got talent kid." Was all he said before picking up his files and walking out the door. 

"You've got talent, kid." 

She remembered being told that a long time ago. 

THREE YEARS AGO 

"You've got talent, kid!" Black Cat yelled as Veronica flipped out of the way of a razor sharp sword shaped in the likeness of a feather launched at her face, half-a-second after Veronica avoided the sharp danger she sent a thin line of web back at the projectile and sent it flying back at the buzzard. 

Veronica raced through New York City, high above the streets fifty feet below. Black Cat clung to Veronica's back, not out of fear but rather out of necessity, Veronica swung through the skyscrapers nearly reaching the speed of sound flipping and twisting as she went. The two were chasing Veronica's newest and most powerful enemy: The Vulture, a man in his mid-seventies who used his advanced armour and cunning mind to not only overcome his body and age but also excelled his abilities above human levels along with allowing him the gift of flight. 

His real name was Adrian Toomes; an elderly man damned to an old-folks-home by his family, scorned and betrayed by his son who stole his business from right under his nose. The penniless old scientist was robbed blind by his own flesh and blood and driven mad by revenge. For several days, The Vulture had been rampaging through the city, destroying anything with the name 'Toomes' on it. 

Ever since Black Cat and Veronica made love for the first time they had become unofficial partners, during the night they would stalk the streets and during the day they would spend hours wrapped in each others arms, Cat had certainly been surprised when she tore the clothes off the amazing Spider-Man only to reveal breasts and a pussy instead of a cock but she was anything but discouraged. Being in a relationship was so new and exciting for Veronica, she finally felt like she had someone who accepted and loved the part of her that she was too afraid to show anyone else but at the same time it was confusing and frightening. 

The only two rules of their relationship were: no real names and the masks never come off. Veronica loved Black Cat and Black Cat loved Spider-Man, they were never supposed to reveal who they really were to each other, it created a cold rift between them that Veronica desperately wanted to cross but couldn't out of fear of destroying the relationship. 

Veronica felt a weight lift from her back. Looking over her shoulder, Veronica could see that Black Cat had disappeared without a trace, a skill that Cat seemed to be a master of. 

"What is wrong with you! Why are you chasing me! I haven't done a thing wrong!" The Vulture shouted as he nosedived down and steadied up just in time before he hit the ground, Veronica following close behind. 

"You blew up a building Tweety, I feel like that's pretty damn wrong!" Veronica yelled back, her voice still augmented to sound like a grown-man by her mask. 

"He had it coming! You should be arresting that swindling bastard, not me! I'm a hero!" 

"Why don't you calm down grandad, just let me bring you back to the old-folks-home, get you a cup of pudding and I'll put on some Murder She Wrote, that sound nice!?" Spider-Man quipped. 

"How dare you! That's ageist! Do you know what the problem with your generation is? No respect for your elders on a quest for revenge, that's what!" 

"Yeah and you know what's wrong with your generation? You're fucking nuts!" 

The Vulture shot up into sky, dodging and weaving between buildings, always coming within an inch of the stone buildings. Barrel roll, aileron roll, nosedive, twist, turn, Adrian Toomes sped through the city at the velocity of a speeding bullet and the agility of a jungle cat but still Spider-Man followed close behind. The Vulture pulled out every underhanded trick and malicious manoeuvre he could think of to shake the arachnid but still Spider-Man followed close behind. Eventually the buzzard recklessly started to attack the city below him, blasting some building to let some rumble fall on the people below, cutting the safeties of some construction site, grabbing up some small child in his man-made claws and lobbing her like a football, yet in every instance Veronica saved all involved and still Spider-Man followed close behind. 

"Stop following me you freak!" Vulture shouted. Turning his head back towards the scarlet spider. 

"Freak!? Oh, come on! You're dressed like a really fucked up peacock and you're blowing up half the city! You of-all-people do not get to call me that!" Veronica yelled angrily. 

Vulture made a mistake by turning his head back, turning his eyes from the path in from of him, if he hadn't then he would have seen the line of metal wire grow taut in front of him. Vulture was flying with one wing pointing towards the ground when he hit the wire, it cut clean through the low hanging wing and the arm that controlled it. 

"Christ!" Veronica swore. She hadn't seen that coming. 

Now damaged, The Vulture's suit went haywire. Flying chaotically, he crashed into a building then another and one more before coming to a stop on the roof of some squalid little pawn shop. The whole time as he flew, he left a stream of blood through the air. 

Veronica slingshot herself down to The Vulture as quick as she could, the fall sprained her right ankle but she pushed herself to the injured old bird. His arm below the elbow was cut clean off as if removed by the skill of a surgeon. Blood was gushing out of the meaty stump like a red river pouring into a scarlet lake pooling on the rooftop. 

Veronica skid to her knees, the old man was unconscious and looked horribly frail, suddenly without his power he looked every one of his years. With her hands shaking like an addict going cold-turkey, she struggled to take hold of his bloody stump, such a simple act felt harder to her than lifting an SUV. 

"God, please, God, don't be dead. So much blood, so much blood." Even within her own head, Veronica's voice shook. 

Blood covered her ratty old costume, painting it red and warming her wherever it landed, the warmth made Veronica want to bathe and cry and vomit all at once. A thick glob of white sprayed from Veronica's spinnerets, covering the old man's mangled limp as a makeshift bandage. Veronica hoped he wasn't dead. 

"Holy shit, is he still alive!?" Black Cat questioned from behind Veronica. "You've got to give the old guy credit, he doesn't die without a struggle does he?" Cat quipped and then laughed. 

"Cat? Oh Christ, Cat please tell me you didn't do this?" Veronica asked after brusquely turning off her voice changer. Her voice was thick and full of tears. Cat stopped laughing, she froze. 

"You nearly killed him!" Veronica accused. 

Black Cat took a step back from the younger girl, obviously taken by surprise from Veronica's tone of voice. Cat's face showed how betrayed the snow-haired woman felt. Even though Veronica was pissed and scared at the sight of Vulture nearly dead, Veronica couldn't help but feel ashamed when she saw the look on her lover's face. 

"He blew up a fucking building, I was trying to kill him!" Black shot back when she regained her composure. 

"Wha-...Wh-..." Veronica tried to speak but the words would not leave her throat. 

"Why?" Black Cat finished for Veronica. "He's dangerous! How many people would have died tonight if you hadn't been here! How many lives would he have though of as acceptable collateral damage in his vain search for petty revenge!" 

Veronica couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

"Cat...we are not Frank Castle, I am not Frank Castle! I wear a spider not a skull! I won't become that, I won't let that happen, I am not a killer and neither are you!" Veronica shouted. 

"...Veronica...you're so full of hope and optimism, it blinds you. Sometimes you have to do things you're not proud of, sometimes you have to compromise your beliefs." 

"...No. Never compromise, not even in the face of Armageddon." Veronica remembered hearing a long time ago. 

A flash of green burst from The Vulture's intact wing, a razor sharp sword shaped in the likeness of a feather pierced through Veronica's stomach. She could feel the blade crawled through each layer of herself, first through her clothes then through the soft flesh of her stomach, sword clawed through her muscles and though each separate line of intestine until it finally came to a stop as it's end ripped out her back. Only when it came to a stop did Veronica feel how violently hot it burned. 

Veronica felt her senses start to fade. Her vision going dark, her hearing going deaf. Veronica could vaguely make out the shape of Vulture soaring into the sky and the shape of Black Cat above her, she could hear Cat screaming about something but her words were muffled and mute. 

PRESENT DAY 

Veronica felt the skin under her shirt, a pink line of jagged scar tissue crossed vertically across her skin. It was barely noticeable to the eyes at this point unless you already knew it was there, physically it no longer ached her but the old scar reminded her of her first love and gave her a terrible ache in her heart. 

Snap, snap, snap went Chandler's fingers no more than an inch from Veronica's face. 

"Ronnie! Wake up!" Chandler bellowed. 

"Uh, front-loader!" Veronica yelled. 

"...What?" McNamara asked. 

"I...don't know." Veronica admitted, her cheeks flashing scarlet with embarrassment. The group was currently sat in Mac's living room with the television on low. 

"Were you even paying attention to the conversation?" Chandler asked. 

"...Sure?" Veronica was grasping at straws, hopefully The Heathers wouldn't call her out on her bullshit. 

Duke sighed deeply. "You are such a pillowcase Sawyer." 

"Did, did you just call me stupid!? You!?" Veronica shrieked. She had never been so offended in her life, it was true that she could be a bit absent-minded but her test scores were always near-perfect if not just plain perfect and that was more than Duke could ever say. 

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Duke squawked. 

"I feel like we've gotten off topic." Mac said quietly. 

"Yes, I agree!" Chandler proclaimed, putting an end to the argument before it had truly begun. Her arms were crossed and her eyes closed. "Ronnie, we were talking about getting Spider-Man to come to a party. Try to keep up." 

"Spider-Man?" Veronica asked, confused how and more importantly why the conversation had turned to Veronica's alter-ego. 

"Oh! You haven't heard? Chandler has this crush on our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man!" McNamara teased. 

"Yeah, ever since she passed out in the gutter she's been ranting to us about some dream she had where he saved her or fucked her or some shit." Duke said, 

"It wasn't a dream you bitch!" Chandler yelled. It was easy to see that Chandler was angry, she was almost always angry, but Veronica could tell that this was a very different kind of angry compared to anything she had seen in Chandler before. Chandler was truly and wholeheartedly offended at the accusation of having dreamed-up that night. 

"Well this is a thing, definitely a thing, a thing that is happening." Veronica thought. 

"So, uuuuhhhh, you and Spider-Man huh? What was that like?" Veronica internally winced at how pathetic she was acting but she couldn't help herself, she had to hear what Chandler thought. 

"Wait you actually believe her!?" Duke squealed in disbelief. 

"Shut up Heather." 

"Sorry Heather." 

"So, anyway. I was just coming out of this totally bitching club and like what else is new when these three fuckheads tried to rob me. So, you know, they trying to act all tough and I wasn't scared at all when BOOM! Spider-Man shows up. Now you guys should have seen it, he fell like forty-feet, no problem, total badass. So he was flipping and kicking and punching and this one guy got hit by a truck! Thwip, thwip, thwip, biff, bam, pow and those guys are fucking done!" As Chandler spoke she started off trying to act cool as usual but as she progressed further into her story the Heather in red started to act more and more childish until she was making sound effects with her mouth and acting out the fight, she even imitated Veronica's iconic three-finger hand gesture that she used to spin her webs. 

Seeing Chandler go from the tough bitch everyone feared to a nerd jumping on the couch without a care in the world was the cutest thing Veronica had ever seen. She tried her best to hold in the big goofy smile on her face but she just couldn't. 

"What are so happy at?" Chandler asked still with a smile on her face. Chandler's tone was teasing and genuine. 

Veronica was going to playfully answer 'oh, nothing' before a brilliant idea struck her. 

"Hey guys, I didn't toss my backpack last night did I?" Veronica asked, looking at Chandler. Chandler and Duke looked to Mac for an answer. 

"Uh, I don't think so? Honestly I don't remember you bringing a backpack in the first place so I'm betting that you left near the entrance? Maybe?" Mac tried to answer. 

Veronica immediately left the room full of confused Heathers. Running to the entrance, Veronica quickly found her old green pack, she rifled through the bag until she found what she was looking for then quickly returned to The Heathers with her camera in hand. 

"Ronnie, please don't tell me you're going to show us your nudes. Because we got enough of that last night." Chandler said. 

Veronica chuckled. 

"No, trust me this is better~!" The girl wearing Chandler's clothes promised. 

Veronica knelt down in front of the television and connected her camera. After a few seconds, a still image appeared on screen. The image was from Spider-Man's early days, it was shot from a high-angle and she was still in her homemade suit as she swung through Times Square with a flock of pigeons flying alongside her. 

"Woooooooah, Ronnie you have these saved on your camera?" 

"Nope." 

Veronica flicked through her pictures, showing the hundreds of times Veronica had saved the day. There were pictures showing her battles with all her biggest foes; Vulture and Electro, Kraven The Hunter and Mysterio, Doc Ock and Rhino along with the countless disasters and petty crimes she had stopped over the years. Veronica loved these pictures, whenever she doubted that the city needed Spider-Man, she had these photos to remind her. 

"You mean...you took these?" Heather Chandler asked hopefully. 

"Eeyup." Veronica answered. 

The picture on the television showed Veronica on a rooftop with an arm wrapped around her belonging to Spider-Man himself. This photo had been a pain for Veronica to pull-off, at first she had tried using photo manipulation software but she became paranoid that someone would see some sign of tampering that she could not, then she tried using Matt Murdock who very much didn't want to wear the costume but quickly she realised that even if Matt somehow managed to squeeze into her small costume then a trained eye would be able to deduce the much taller height. Veronica was just starting to give up on the idea when it hit her, all she needed to use was a mannequin that matched her size with an animatronic arm to naturally wrap around her waist. Simple but effective. It was simple 'evidence' to show anyone who might have suspicions about her. 

"Ronnie...do you take all those news photos of Spider-Man? Are you friends with Spider-Man" Chandler asked with a voice full of awe and hope. 

"Well...yeah, haven't you ever read the little credit under th-" 

"GET ME PHOTOS OF SPIDER-MAN!" Chandler roared, holding Veronica up by Chandler's borrowed blazer. Suddenly Veronica succumbed to horrible flashbacks to all the times she had met with Jameson, all screaming and the tears and the fear, a trip to the Daily Bugle was like a trip into the ninth circle of hell. 

Upon noticing how scared Veronica looked, Chandler loosened her grip and cleared her throat. 

"I mean, would you be able to get some pictures of Spider-Man...for me." Asked Chandler. 

"Um, sure?" 

Heather Chandler felt elated upon realizing that not only did Veronica know Spider-Man, Heather's favourite hero, but that Veronica never actually ditched her. Veronica was a news photographer, running headfirst into danger. Heather wouldn't admit it but she found the idea of Veronica having such a dangerous job to be kind of...sexy. 

Duke stared at the picture of Veronica and Spider-Man on the television sceptically. The green Heather turned her gaze to Veronica and she had a furious fire in her eyes. 

"So you know Spider-Man, huh? Thor as well? How!? How does someone like you know people like them!?" Duke demanded. 

I, uh, well, I mean it's not like a big deal or anything, it's just that when Spider-Man started webbing up bad guys, the news wanted pictures, good pictures. Soooooooo I took a shot at it and now...I don't know, I'm like his personal photographer or something and somewhere along the line I started to meet guys like Thor." 

Suddenly like an axe burrowing into the back of her head, pain split through her brain, it felt like her mind was being ripped in two. In the distance Veronica Could hear a muffled, echoing scream, she couldn't tell that it was her that was screaming. 

Time felt sluggish as Veronica's legs gave out, her body sagged and collapsed, the taste and stench of rotting fish and copper Invaded her senses. Like being dragged to the bottom of the sea, she felt like she was falling through suffocating darkness, falling into the depths of her mind, her vision was like a window and she was falling further and further away from it. 

THE SAWYER HOUSE 

Veronica woke up screaming, her sheets and PJs soaked in sweat. Her head was screaming in pain, just like when her Spider-Sense went off in moments of near-death, when danger was at its absolute peak. Suddenly her door came crashing open and a bright light blinded her. 

"Police! Hands in the air! Don't you move Motherfucker!". 

Veronica fell back into her mattress in fear and one of her arms instinctively covered her eyes from the sudden burst of light. 

"Wait...why does this seem so...odd?" 

The light lowered after quickly scanning the room to reveal her middle-aged aunt in a nightgown. Her middle-aged aunt in a nightgown and holding a combat-shotgun with a flashlight attachment. 

"Veronica! Where did they go!? How many were there!? Did they touch you in your special places!?" Aunt May shouted. 

"Wha-, Aunt May what are you talking about!? Why have you got a shotgun!? Where did you even get that!?" 

Aunt May was breathing heavily and her eyes continued to search around the room for imaginary threats. 

"Was I just...was I just dreaming?" 

Veronica carefully stood up and placed a comforting hand on her aunts shoulder, Veronica was never very good at comforting others, she was just way too awkward. 

"Its okay Aunt May, I'm fine, it's okay, it was just a nightmare, calm down we're fine." 

Aunt May cried, she was shaking and barely had the strength to keep standing but she wouldn't let go of the firearm, she held onto the gun like a lifeline. 

A sharp sting pierced Veronica's forehead, an aching tightness that made her clutch her head. Veronica felt a large lump protruding from her forehead and hot, thick liquid gush down her hand. 

"Pumpkin! You're bleeding, what happened!?" Aunt May shouted frightfully as she dropped her weapon. 

"I don- I don't...Aaugh!" 

Aunt May looked scared, Veronica felt scared. 

"Come on Pumpkin, let's go to the bathroom, we'll clean you up okay? Its going to be okay Pumpkin." May guided Veronica out her bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom, May turned on the sink tap and wet a nearby hand-towel. After ringing out the excess water, May tenderly parted Veronica's hands and applied the cloth to Veronica's wound, immediately it felt like bleach being rubbed into her eyes. 

Veronica yelped and pushed May away, Veronica turned to the mirror above the sink and violently pulled back her hair, she needed to see the wound, she needed to know what was happening. Puncturing and pushing out of her skin was a shining black orb, blood spewed from the lesion and the surrounding flesh looked red and meaty, torn and putrefied. 

"Oh fuck, what the fuck is happening to me!?" Veronica cried, her voice was weak and trembling. Veronica scratched at her right arm, she started to realise now that not only was she in terrible pain, but the skin of her arm was itching unlike she had ever felt before, like insects were crawling and scurrying under the flesh, nipping at muscle and gnawing at bone. 

Harder and harder she scratched with her superhuman strength until her nails started to burrow into her skin but the itch remained, so she still scratched harder, until in a feral pull of flesh, she ripped the skin from her bicep down past her hand off in one pull. 

She had just accidentally degloved her arm. 

On the outskirts of her hearing, Veronica could hear May scream in horror but she didn't care. Blood was spraying everywhere and instead of her smooth, creamy skin, her arm was just veiny red meat and bone but she didn't care. Her arm was in inconceivable pain but she didn't care. 

The itch was spreading, down her back, up her neck, across her chest, the irritation was everywhere. Anywhere there was skin, it felt like a hive of insects was infesting just under the skin. 

"Get out! Get out! Get out get out get out!" Veronica screamed as she started to rip and tear at her flesh, pulling large chucks of skin and muscle off like raw handfuls of minced beef, bloody and pink. 

"Stop, Veronica stop!" Aunt May shouted as she lunged at Veronica desperate to restrain her. With an effortless swing of her flayed arm, Veronica sent May across the room and into the hallway, the impact breaking three of the woman's ribs. 

Veronica screamed as her face began to feel like it was being both crushed and shoved into a stove. She only stopped screaming when she felt a large mass force itself up her throat. She felt her eyes pop out of her sockets and burst like overripe tomatoes, her teeth fell out with ease and her jaw unhinged then fell off like an old band-aid as two large fangs ripped the front of her face off like a scab. 

Pain erupted from her back as bones started to break and reform with her, four points began to poke through her skin, tearing her thin from the inside out. With a mighty rip, four long arachnid legs birthed out of Veronica's back, covered in blood and mucus. 

Veronica struggled to lift herself up to the sink, her hands staining the porcelain red. Looking into the mirror, Veronica only saw a monster that she didn't recognise. Eight black orbs protruded from around her blood-caked face, they were now big enough to understand what they were, they were the eyes of a spider. The four spider legs on her back twitched and scurried. The long black fangs that replaced her mouth dripped bubbling black bile. Her skin had become swollen and pink, like it had been taken off and put through a mincer then slapped back on with lone thick wiry hairs poking out here and there across her body. 

She wasn't Veronica anymore, she wasn't even human anymore. She was a monster, an abomination. The thing that was once Veronica wanted to cry, but instead something very different came out. 

"HAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAAA!" Long droning laughter erupted through her throat, echoing like in an endless void, the voice was demonically deep, throaty and wet. Like mould given voice. 

The world started to swirl around her, as it her surroundings had been just fog that was now being blow away by an unfelt tornado. All at once, Veronica found herself in a strange room, with her body returned to human and for some unknown reason she was in her Spider-Suit. The room was looked to be made of shadow and pink mist, all of it was there but also not there, the walls moved almost like they were fire but instead of orange or red they were black, the floor was like water but when Veronica looked down it more resembled her legs fading from existence than being submerged in liquid. 

It was like she had fallen into a H.P Lovecraft story and the world was so far beyond her understanding, her senses simply couldn't fathom the environment around her. 

The only thing in the room that Veronica could remotely comprehend was a great stone throne made in the likeness of a gigantic black widow perched on a stone web. Sat in throne where the head of the great stone spider would've been was a woman who couldn't possibly have been less than ninety years old wearing a long red dress, she had a shoulder length bob haircut with a widows peak and reflective red glasses like Daredevil usually wore when he wasn't wearing his costume. 

"Who, who the fuck are you!?" Veronica cried. 

"Little spider new to the web, who are you?" The arachnid countered with a cryptically phrased question of her own. 

Veronica was taken aback by the insinuation. This old hag knew exactly who Veronica was, who she truly was. Veronica felt anger and confidence stir in her belly, if this woman knew who she already was then she had nothing left to lose. 

"My name is Veronica Sawyer and I am The Spectacular Spider-Man!" Veronica proclaimed proudly. 

The old hag laughed. 

"The names of birth bear no importance. Who are you?" 

"What, I don't-" 

"Knowledge be paramount yet remains unattainable to those whom require the most." She mused, leaving Veronica to wonder whether or not that was some veiled insult. "I rephrase: Be you one in possession of virtue?" 

Veronica would be lying if she said she didn't feel idiotic compared to this woman. This being. Every phrase was unnecessarily cryptic, but she categorised this as being just another fight. One she would give her all. 

"...I believe I'm a good person, I believe there's good in everyone." She answered slowly, uncertain of whether her answer was correct. 

"Through biased eyes humanity does so view the unwavering line of morality, their beliefs ever-changing when a situation does not comply with their carefully selected rules." She pauses for dramatic effect - at least, that's what Veronica thinks anyway. "What one deems immoral, another may perceive as righteous; does such knowledge not conjure questions concerning the nature of humanity?" 

"What is this? Did you drag me into some kind of nightmare just to spout some philosophical bullshit for beginners!? If you have something to say then fucking say it!?" 

The hag laughed like a frog choking on a particularly large fly. 

"Inquisitiveness acts as invitation to danger, tiny spider of the web, yet this concerns you little. Be it that the idea of imperilment to you means naught?" 

Veronica was close to erupting with anger. And if she didn't receive answers soon, she might do exactly that. 

"To comprehend my very existence is similar to describing beauty to one born without vision." Black lips pull back to reveal a set of teeth baring the resemblance to a spider's pincers. "But to comprehend my warning shall bear the simplicity of breathing." 

"Warning?" Veronica's eyes narrowed. "What warning? Are you threatening me?" 

"The road ahead be drenched in ooze. Sable. Destructive. Tragedy be this monster's one true certainty." 

Veronica gripped her hair, extremely close to tearing out two mighty chunks. "I don't understand what the fuck you want from me! Am I in danger!? Are my friends and family in danger!?" 

"Fragility cradles the future. Unnecessary weight could cause a fracture. Ultimate devastation." 

"Who are you!? What are you!? Tell me your name!" Veronica demanded. 

"My name...is Madame Web." 

MCNAMARA'S PENTHOUSE 

Veronica awoke with a heavy gasp for air, tears stinging her eyes, her body felt stiff and aching as if she had been dead. Chandler cradled Veronica in her arms with eyes full of tears and McNamara knelt next to her holding Veronica's hand, Duke was nearby with a phone held to her hand. 

"I, I think she's, yeah she's waking up." Duke spoke into the phone. The girl in green sounded worried unlike Veronica had ever heard before. 

"Ronnie!? Ronnie are you okay!? What happened!?" Chandler demanded with a squeaky voice tight from crying. 

"Heather?" Veronica was confused. 

"Was that all a dream, a nightmare? Madame Web, who was she? What was she? What's happening to me?" 

"I think she's okay. No, don't bother with an ambulance, I have a car, I'll take her to the hospital now." Duke spoke to someone on the phone before hanging up. 

"Wait, you're talking about me? I don't understand, why do I need a hospital?" 

"Veronica you just passed out, you weren't even breathing!" McNamara informed Veronica. 

"I...wasn't breathing?" Veronica couldn't quite understand what had happened, she felt groggy and exhausted like when you wake up without having nearly enough sleep. 

"We thought...I thought..." Chandler couldn't bring herself to continue explaining. When Veronica's eyes rolled back in her skull and she fell to the floor it felt like to Chandler like she was watching it in slow motion, Chandler ran to Veronica and listened for her breath and felt for a pulse but Chandler found neither, Veronica was dead, until she wasn't. For a few terrifying minutes she thought that she had just watched her friend die. 

Veronica needed to leave, she needed to get out of there, she needed space to think about what had just happened and what it all meant. Veronica jumped out of Chandler's arms and onto her feet. 

"Uh, I need to go! Sorry." Veronica shouted, quickly missing the feeling of being wrapped in Chandler's arms but right at this moment she was half-an-inch away from completely freaking out. 

"Wait!? Go where!? You need to go to the hospital!" McNamara demanded. 

"No, no. I'm fine, I just forgot about some work I need to finish before Monday. I'll talk to you later!" Veronica waved off her friends pleas as she started to gather up her stuff. 

"Sawyer, you can't just leave. You just had a stroke or a seizure or something, you need a doctor!" Duke shouted. Sounding uncharacteristically concerned. 

"I'll be fine!" Veronica stated, she was about to run out the door when someone grabbed the back of Veronica's borrowed blazer, she was spun around and found herself face to face with Chandler. 

"Ronnie! For fuck's sake you stupid bitch! You passed out, you stopped breathing, you didn't have a pulse! How many times do I need to spell it out for you, you died!" 

In that moment, Veronica should have been over the moon with joy at the knowledge that Chandler was concerned for her wellbeing. But she wasn't. All she could focus on was that one very important word. 

Died. 

The first time she had been told that was a few years ago, and it was the only time in her life when she wished the hospital hadn't saved her life. 

THREE YEARS AGO 

Veronica woke up with a sharp pain in her stomach, she could hear the steady beat of a heart monitor and the smell disinfectant in the air. Veronica was in the hospital, no question. 

"Veronica Sawyer?" A familiar voice asked from across the room. 

Veronica opened her eyes, expecting to see the love of her life but instead she saw a woman she didn't recognise. The woman wore a suit and tie with a heavy looking trench coat, she had ginger-red hair and natural pink lips that shined wetly. As Veronica looked into the woman's sad, emerald eyes, all of a sudden she realised that she did recognise her. 

This woman was Black Cat, the real Black Cat. 

"Cat?" Veronica croaked before being overwhelmed by a fit of coughing, Cat quickly ran to her side and handed her a cup and straw full of water. 

"You're going to have to take it easy, Vulture's feather impaled you, hell it practically scissored your stomach and intestine. The doctor's were sure you were worm-food but they didn't know how fast you heal, not that I blame them, even with your healing it's going to be a long time before you're back in your red-and-blue." Cat spoke friendly enough, but Veronica could hear a hollowness to her voice. 

"Aww, she's worried about me, so cute!" Veronica though excitedly. 

"What's wrong?" Veronica asked with a cheeky smile. 

"Nothing. I'm fine." Cat answered, the voice subdued and annoyed. Veronica's mood fell instantly, what was left of Veronica's stomach flipped in anxiety, she knew just enough about relationships to know that those words were never a good sign. 

Veronica stared at Cat with big, sad, doe eyes until the ginger woman gave in with a heavy sigh. 

"I...I didn't know you were so young." Cat's voice was overflowing with sadness and shame. 

"Oh...that." 

"I knew from when we were...in bed, that you were small and I knew that you were younger then me from the way that you spoke but...I never imagined you were only fourteen." Cat had great difficulty saying the words. 

When Cat brought Veronica to the hospital, she nearly got sick when the doctor's told her that the girl was a fourteen year old girl called Veronica Sawyer. Cat felt dirty and perverted. She had slept with a girl still in high school - and what was worse was that despite her best attempts, Cat had fallen deeply in love with the girl. Cat had lived through broken heart after broken heart until she couldn't take it anymore, loneliness was terribly painful for Cat but love hurt more, until she met The Spectacular Spider-Man, someone who could keep up with her and excited her, someone who made her laugh and made her feel special. But now her love had turned sour. 

"How old are you?" Veronica asked meekly. 

"...I'm twenty-five." Black Cat answered hesitantly, honestly. 

The quiet between them was deafening. Veronica felt tears run down her face, she didn't want what she had with Cat to end. 

"Cat I-" Veronica started to say before being cut off. 

"Veronica, wait, let me speak. Listen...I-" Black Cat didn't know how to start this conversation. Veronica was sat in the hospital bed with wrappings around her head and a bandage stuck to her cheek. Rivers ran down her face, her big, mud-brown eyes were so soft and fragile that they looked like they might shatter. 

Cat didn't want to break Veronica's heart, but she didn't have a choice. 

"Veronica...you must understand. When I met you, I thought you were much older, at least old enough to drive." 

Veronica closed her eyes, lowered her head and bared her teeth in pain. She knew what was coming. 

"You are truly a spectacular person Veronica, you are so strong and so smart that I never even considered the idea of you being underage...I should have considered it, I should have been more careful and because of that I can never forgive myself. I am so sorry Veronica." 

"Don't apologise, please don't apologise, not for that!" Veronica practically screamed. Veronica gripped the sheets so hard that they easily ripped in her hands. 

Black Cat didn't acknowledge Veronica's outburst. 

"I fell in love with you Veronica and that was wrong...I still love you and that is so wrong." Black Cat was crying now as well. "But that doesn't change anything, tonight I am going to leave and I don't know when I'm going to come back." 

Veronica had never felt heartbreak before, she had felt incredible sadness and grief but heartbreak was different, in this moment it felt worse than any pain she had ever suffered, it literally felt like Cat was digging out her heart with a corkscrew. 

"Please Cat, I love you, I love you so much, I don't want you to go, please don't leave me!" Veronica babbled, struggling to speak over the flood of tears. 

Just at this moment, the door to Veronica's room opened and Aunt May stepped in, the timeless sounds of Queen blasting into her ears through a set of headphones. May carried a huge vase full of flowers up to Veronica's side and placed them on the side table, she spent several moments fixing the plants and trying to make them look just perfect before she noticed Veronica awake and staring at her. 

"Pumpkin!" Aunt May bellowed before tackling Veronica in bed, showering the girl in hugs and kisses. "My girl! My girl! I was so worried, you were sleeping for days!" 

Veronica felt a brief cinder of happiness in her heart as she struggled to escape her aunt's vice-grip. 

"May I'm fine! You don't have to worry!" Veronica tried to tell her but May wasn't listening. 

"Oh! Pumpkin, you should thank Miss Watson right away! She's been putting off a very important business trip just to thank you." May informed Veronica. 

"Miss Watson?" 

"That would be me, Mary-Jane Watson, pleasure to meet you~!" Cat said, holding out a hand for Veronica to shake. Cat smiled warmly, if Veronica hadn't seen it a few moments ago in person then she never would have believed that this woman had been crying. 

"Mary-Jane? Is that your real name Cat? It's a nice name, so is Watson, Veronica Watson. I would have liked to be Veronica Watson, I would have liked to be whatever you want me to be." 

"Now, as your Aunt said, I wish to thank you for saving me~!" Mary-Jane's smile was so sweet and so sincere that it made Veronica sick. 

"If she can fake happiness so well, then she can fake sadness just as well and love. Who are you really? Are you sad or are you happy, did you really love me or is this some kind of sick game, are you really coming back or are those just lies. Can I even be sure of your name?" Veronica thought she knew Black Cat, but now she realised that she didn't really know anything about her and what she thought she knew could all be lies for all she knew. 

Veronica shut down, she didn't shake Mary-Jane's hand nor did she reply, she just looked down at her hands in her lap. 

"Uuuuhhhh..." Mary-Jane let her hand fall back to her side. "The doctors said that you might have some temporary memory loss. You see, a couple nights ago a madman was rampaging through the city and like the moron I am I didn't notice until it was too late, fortunately you were out trying to take pictures of the guy and when you saw me in danger you threw yourself in the way and saved my life. I don't know how I could ever repay you." 

Veronica remained quiet. 

"Pumpkin, don't worry, you're fine, the Bugle is going to give you compensation and Miss Watson has offered to pay your medical bills so there's no need to worry about money. Everything is going to be okay Pumpkin." 

"It's the least I can do!" Black Cat or Mary-Jane or whoever she was said. 

Veronica didn't want to cry, but she didn't have a choice. The stiches in her stomach ached as she started to weep again. She hated crying, she hated Cat, she hated herself. 

"Pumpkin? Are you in pain? Do you need me to get the doctors? I'll get the doctors." May said in a panic before running out the room. 

As May left the room, the space became devoid of sound with the exception of Veronica's sobbing. 

"I should leave." Black Cat said regretfully. 

"Yeah, sure, go! I didn't need you before and I don't fucking need you now!" Veronica shouted furiously. 

"...I'm sorry, I-...I'm sorry." Mary-Jane didn't know what else to say. 

"Fine, you're sorry, just go, just fucking go!" Veronica screamed, she hated being this angry but if she wasn't screaming in anger then she would be begging Mary-Jane to stay with her and to love her and to marry her one day. 

Black Cat left without a word so silently that Veronica couldn't be sure when exactly it had happened. Veronica was alone. 

PRESENT DAY 

"Running out on The Heathers yet again, if I keep this up then soon I'll be back to zero friends. You're doing a bangup job Veronica, really fucking swell!" 

Veronica sat on the side of the flatiron building in her Spider-Suit, sticking to the wall by her butt and feet. Lazily she ate a slice of meat-lovers pizza and despite it tasting delicious she really couldn't enjoy it. Her head was too full of thoughts, to many questions and not nearly enough answers. 

She thought about Black Cat. Who was she really? Where do she go? Was she still alive and if so then where is she? Will she ever come back? Did Cat ever truly love her? Veronica didn't know the answer to any of those questions. 

On top of those questions were all the questions she had about the vision. Who was Madame Web? What was Madame Web? Did Veronica possess 'virtue'? What did Madame Web mean by 'the road ahead be drenched in ooze' and 'tragedy be this monster's one true certainty'? Was she in danger? Were her friends in danger? What happened to her during that vision and where did it take her? Veronica didn't know but she might know someone who did know. 

"The Devil of Hells Kitchen." 

(A/N: Over 11,000 words! Holy shit! I never expected to write a chapter this long and I hope I never will again. On the bright-side, we finally got some plot and even a good bit of backstory, not just fluff and set-up. 

I would like to thank AssassinOrTemplar for being my ever faithful Editor/Proof-reader. I would have never finished this chapter without you~!

Hope you all enjoyed! See you next chapter!)


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